Time Desk Returns
by Kusco
Summary: Nearly a year after their first Time Travel adventure, Jeff, Annie, Troy and Abed set out on an all new wibbly wobbley timey whimey thrill ride
1. Chapter 1

Time Desk Returns

Chapter 1

There were only a few things that Jeff hated more than staying late at Greendale. But probably at the top of that list, maybe even the top spot, was coming to Greendale _early_. Jeff's morning schedule ran like a well oiled machine and having to shift and jam in other cogs threw his entire day off.

Coming to Greendale, even an hour earlier, meant getting up at Four instead of five so he could get in his cold wake up shower, followed by calisthenics and ab crunches while he listened or watched the latest pop culture news to stay current. That took an hour and a half.

Getting to Greendale earlier then meant moving his six thirty jog to five thirty which meant he missed out on seeing all the hot soccer mom's out on their jogs. It just wasn't the same. Follow that with a warm shower and a quick breakfast of pure fiber, and he had just enough time to get to Greendale by eight forty five, and have a fifteen minute nap before his first class at nine.

Of course he'd compressed all of that into even less time since it was 6:45 and he'd barely gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep. In order to fit as much of that schedule in as possible he'd skipped breakfast and the warm shower. So when he arrived at Greendale before even the sun did, his back shivered, his stomach growled, and he was more than a little ready to try and caber toss the dean like it was "Scotch-toberfest".

Jeff shook his head as he remembered that particular experience. Such a deceitful name, the one time he actually got excited about a Greendale special event. He even brought his lucky tumbler. In the end it turned out to be nothing but another horrible, soul crushing, Greendale experience.

At least today he roamed the pre-dawn Greendale halls for a good cause. He'd even turned down a few other random early morning invites for it. Shirley had invited him for a morning prayer breakfast, and while her world class hazelnut waffles almost tempted him to enduring a few "Hallelujah's" he declined. Likewise he declined an invite from Abed for a viewing of all the National Lampoon Vacation movies; he just didn't like them anymore for some reason. He even turned down an invite from Britta and Annie for what they promised would be a "good time". Like either of them knew how to have a good time.

He'd turned everything down for this.

Because Kristoff Christophersen, the CEO and Head of Das Face Products Inc, was giving a guest lecture at Greendale. As well as giving out free samples of their number one product Karostina. Now _that_ was worth trying to do ab crunches and shave at the same time.

Jeff nodded when he saw the sign informing him to go to Study Room F in order to receive free samples of Das Face products. When he dressed that morning he specifically picked the jacket with the most pockets for just such an event. Why should he care where they laid out the samples as long as he could cram his pockets full and have enough facial scrub to last forever?

Besides, he knew the way to the Study Room by heart now. On particularly bad days he even considered attempting to find it blindfolded. Partially in the hopes he'd stumble onto something cooler like an underground moonshine operation and also partially just to prove exactly how awesome he was.

He paused for a second and shook his head. Underground moonshine operation? It was too damn early and he needed to stop spending so much time with Troy and Abed.

With the Study Room finally in view Jeff quickened his pace. He had no idea how many others knew about this little seminar but if he could possibly beat the line he needed to. He could almost smell that face wash now! He could just take a deep breath and get the clean, refreshing, scent of… birthday cake?

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, it clicked. Jeff's brain fit together all the little events he'd ignored in his lust for the perfect face wash. He suddenly, horrifically figured out what was about to happen but it was far too late. Even as his brain commanded his feet to stop and turn around, six lovable misfits plus the dean jumped up from behind bookshelves and under the study room table.

"Surprise!" they cheered in unison and Jeff thought he might throw up. "Happy Birthday!"

Jeff cringed but the sudden surprise partiers didn't even noticed as they wrapped him in a group hug and Shirley snapped a pointed party hat on his head. Before he could stop them, they led him into the study room; now decked out with party decorations and a big birthday cake that the dean wheeled in from the opposite side. Jeff counted it as a small blessing that the dean wasn't in it.

And really when all was said and done, Jeff knew he had nobody to blame but himself for this. Every time he got excited, this school had a way of sensing it and pulling the rug out from underneath him. The only thing he wondered was how the hell they knew today was his birthday. He deliberately falsified that date on his registration so people wouldn't hound him on his birthday… and to qualify for reduced tuition for serving in the Gulf War.

"Dean-gulations Jeffrey!" the dean beamed while the others busied with punch and lighting the candles. "Boy did you look surprised!"

"Right?" Annie chuckled as Shirley put a party hat on her. "I wish I could have taken a picture of the look on your face!"

"I did," Pierce said and held up a pen. "Last summer I had to take a trip to Washington to answer some erroneous accusations of worker endangerment to the house judiciary committee, while I was there I went to the International Spy Museum and bought this baby. The official spy picture pen."

"Did you get a secret decoder ring too?" Jeff said.

"The tiny camera in here is secretive that I didn't even know how to take a picture with it at first," Pierce moved the pen so it was just between his eyes. "But you see the key is to click it once then wait. Because nothing will happen if you click it twice…"

As if on cue, Pierce clicked the pen twice and a very bright, very unstealthy flash shot him in the face. Pierce flung around and Jeff managed a half smile, probably the only real one he'd have all day. Frustrated and half blind, Pierce hurled the pen across the room where it continued to flash pictures of all of them. The party goers were getting ready for the stupid birthday song and Jeff plastered the first of his fake smiles on his face. It might not be too late to salvage the situation.

"Heeeey," Jeff finally managed as Annie, Troy and Britta neared. "Not to rain on your collective b-day parades but I think there's been a bit of a mix up. My birthday isn't until July."

"That's what we all thought too," Annie beamed. "Until I discovered this!"

Annie unfolded an old newspaper clipping that had a picture of Jeff at age ten with a mouthful of hot dogs. Jeff cringed at the photo and then at the headline which read "Local Ten year old Goes Dog Crazy for these Hot Dogs! On his birthday not in Dog Years".

"The writer got paid by the word," Annie shrugged and her smile reappeared. "but the point is that it has your actual birthday! You never told us, so we wanted to show you how much we cared by throwing you this bash!"

"Oh look at the little Winger," Britta shook her head at the picture. "It's back before he got his lifetime douche award."

"And that's picture is just adorable!" The dean said. "Look at you Jeff, with your mouth all stuffed with meat."

Jeff swiped the picture from Annie's hand then grabbed her by the shoulder and scooted them away from the rest of the group.

"Annie, what the hell? First my Real World Audition now this? I'd accuse you of stalking me but you're not the dean."

"Relax Jeff," Annie said. "I stumbled on it when I was going over some old newspapers for a project I'm working on called "Greendale: A History". I certainly wasn't looking for it, but now we all get to celebrate your birthday! Isn't that great?"

"Yes," Jeff shook his head. "This whole thing is so Granger-esque of you."

"Okay!" Shirley giggled as she held up the cake with no less than thirty nine candles. Let's sing for the birthday boy! Annie didn't tell us exactly what year you were born in so we just guessed!"

"Let me express my gratis-gust," Jeff said under his breath as the rest of them started singing for him. Jeff felt his eye beginning to twitch and an overwhelming desire to slip out of the room the instant they finished the song. Still he held himself still and waited, stopping himself from nervously tapping his foot the entire time.

By the time they finished the song Chang had popped his head in the door and joined in. Officially making this the _Nightmare on Elm Street_ Equivalent of his life. Once the song was over they all clapped and urged Jeff to blow out the candles.

"You can do it man," Troy said. "Nobody has more hot air than you!"

"Remember, if you get them all, your birthday wish will come true!" Shirley said.

"Of course he won't," Pierce already had the spatula ready to destroy the cake. "Only a real man would have lungs big enough to blow out all of those candles."

Jeff glared at Pierce and felt something welling up inside of him. That same bit of anger that bit at him a lot of the time when Pierce was around. The fact that it was his birthday, of all days, only made it worse. Jeff reared back and sucked in as much air as he could, at the same time trying to ignore the excited squeak from the dean.

Then Jeff blew as hard and fast as he could. The candle's winked out and he kept blowing until his head swam and his fists trembled. Finally he was forced to stop and suck in another breath. Spots appeared in front of his eyes and he stared at the one damn candle that managed to stay alight.

"Ha," Pierce chuckled. "Did you have experimental surgery to replace your lungs with a chicks?"

"Pierce knock it off!" Shirley elbowed him. "Go ahead Jeff, blow out your last candle. We'll still count it."

Pierce chuckled and Jeff glared at the candle. That damn candle. Of course it didn't go out. It was his birthday. It was always something. Something always hung around to stick out and remind him. Vaguely, Jeff felt a hand on his back. His eyes twitched to Annie and then he went back to staring at the candle.

"It's okay Jeff," Troy said. "I was just kidding about the hot air… kinda…"

"Yeah Jeff, do you have to be perfect at everything, even blowing out your candles?" Britta raised a brow.

"Guys… I think… we have a _Friend's_ Thanksgiving on our hands..." Abed whispered.

"Jeff," Annie's hand slid up his back. "It's okay, we can get rid of the candle. I'm sure that whatever it is, we can make it up you. Pierce is sorry, isn't he?"

Jeff stiffened up at those words and he stared at Pierce. The old man's mouth moved but Jeff didn't hear a word that he said. He heard his mom and he heard his dad and he heard the tv blaring up as loud as he could get it so he didn't have to listen to them and suddenly, before he even knew what he was doing, Jeff was yelling.

"No he'd not sorry!" He wheeled around at Annie. "Don't you dare defend him! He's never sorry for anything that he does! And all you do is sit around and make excuses for him! I don't need it! I don't need him!"

"Jeff calm down," Shirley said. "It's just a candle."

"No it's not! It's a damn birthday cake! Did it occur to any of you that maybe the reason you had to figure out when my birthday was, was because I didn't _want_ my birthday to be celebrated!? No! You just said 'damn the torpedoes full confetti ahead!' And then you let _him_ ruin it just like you always do!"

"What are you talking about?" Jeff didn't even know who said it at this point.

"You know exactly what it is!" He hollered then knocked his hand into the cake, spraying it against the wall and finally knocking the damn candle out of its place, putting it out.

"I hate you! I hate all of you! You hear me?! I hate you Dad!"

That said, realization of everything that had just happened started to trickle into Jeff's mind. The Study Group, the dean and Chang all stood on one end of the room with him huffing and puffing by himself now. Troy and surprisingly even Britta were close to tears. Annie hung near Abed and glared daggers at him. The dean cowered behind Shirley and Chang with his hands grasping the security officer's night stick.

"Jeff… look…" Pierce started but Jeff's anger flooded back, but instead of making a further ass of himself he fled the room.

* * *

"Are you in here?" Annie creaked the door open.

No answer.

Annie sighed and shut the door. She hoped he would have been there, the supply closet. But no such luck. After Jeff's reaction, Annie wouldn't have been at all surprised if he had run to his Lexus and sped off. Sure it wasn't the first time Jeff had gone off the rails but usually there was more of a reason behind it. And usually Annie didn't have to spend that much time finding him.

But after nearly an hour of searching she was ready to give up.

Whatever it was that set Jeff off would have to remain another mystery that they would only learn about the next time he got kicked out of his apartment or was beaten in foosball or whatnot. In the meantime Annie needed to get to class.

She glanced down at the slice of birthday cake cupped in a napkin in her hand, complete with one unlit candle. Maybe she could take it home and save it.

Initially, after Jeff stormed out, Annie, like most the others wanted nothing but to ream him a new one. Did he think it was easy coordinating all six of them to come together _before_ class? Let alone get Abed to send another fake invite to ensure Jeff would be where they needed him to be? Did he think that they all went to such effort just for him to have a tantrum and ruin it for all of them? And Pierce didn't even really do that much.

It was only later, after they'd cleaned up the cake that Britta pointed out how worried she was about Jeff. That she thought something was really wrong with him because his response was excessive, even for him. And it wasn't even related to his probable fear of growing older.

Annie might have dismissed all of this since it came out of Britta's mouth but Jeff did yell something about his dad and any other answers weren't really forthcoming. The more she worked on cleaning the room the worse she felt for putting Jeff through all of that. Maybe he reacted horribly but she was the one that chose to ignore the obvious fact that he had falsified his birthdate and never brought it up to them. She wanted to throw a party for him and she hadn't considered what he wanted. Not even on his birthday.

Now, an hour later, she resigned herself to apologizing whenever Jeff appeared in Study Group again.

She glanced at a nearby wall clock and realized she only had fifteen minutes to get to her next class on the other side of campus. That would take at least five minutes, which meant she would only be ten minutes early! What if the teacher decided to grade on a door prize system and the first through the door got 'A's and the last got 'F's? Crazier things had happened!

After a couple of seconds to plan her quickest possible route, Annie about faced and ran, cake first, right into Jeff. Annie found one hand cupping her mouth as the other one hovered over the blue and white frosting stain on his shirt. Annie gasped a bit as she stared at it, then looked up to Jeff to apologize.

But instead of being met with gnashed teeth and rigged, enraged eyebrows, Jeff held an expression of resignation. Annie backed up a bit and slipped her backpack off her shoulders. After a few seconds she'd retrieved some Hawthorn Wipes she kept in case of emergencies.

"Well," Jeff said as she ripped a packet open. "I guess I can't really say that I didn't deserve this."

"Jeff, I'm sorry," Annie ran the towelette over the frosting stain. "I didn't mean to."

"Annie, I just said that I deserved it," Jeff said. "I don't admit stuff like that very often."

"No, I mean this entire morning, I'm sorry."

"Oh," Jeff's voice dropped just a bit. "Yeah. That. Annie, I'm probably the one that should be apologizing. I mean… yeah, you guys probably should have figured out that I didn't want my birthday to be celebrated but I think I did overreact just a little bit."

"A little bit?" Annie popped an eyebrow up while she continued to wipe at the stain. "Jeff the dean is still cry… wait, sorry. I shouldn't be laying it on. We completely ignored your feelings and…"

"Annie, stop it."

"No Jeff, You've always let us know how much you value your privacy and we all know it, we should have respected that."

"Annie, seriously, stop it."

"And even if we did want to celebrate your birthday we shouldn't have tricked you into coming and should have planned a party that you would have actually enjoyed instead of one that we would have liked."

Jeff grabbed Annie's hands and pulled them away from his body. "Annie. Stop it. You've worn that tissue to your finger. The stain isn't coming out."

"Oh…" Annie glanced down at the frayed towelette and then at Jeff's hands, still holding hers.

"Also stop apologizing for this morning," Jeff drew her attention back up to his face. "All I want now is for all of us to forget it ever happened. I mean _really_ forget."

"Okay," she nodded. "It's forgotten."

"Good," Jeff let go of her hands and took a step back. "Good. I… well I probably should get going. Class or whatever."

"Right," Annie backed away, practically biting her tongue to not ask more about his meltdown.

"Well, I'm… uh," Jeff motioned over his shoulder. "I'm going that way."

"Okay," Annie took a step the opposite direction. "I'm going this way."

"See you at Study Group?"

"Yeah."

Annie turned around and only got a couple of steps before Jeff caught back up with her.

"Look," he stepped in front of her. "It's not that I'm not grateful for the effort you put into it, or the thought. It's just… birthdays are really a bad time for me. I haven't celebrated one since I was twelve and I was finally able to get my mom to stop."

"Twelve?"

"Yeah… look the point is, thanks for trying. Thanks for doing your whole, 'Annie thing' with making everything perfect. If it were any other day I would probably be very flattered but this is the one day a year that I just wish didn't exist."

"What?" the statement overrode Annie's minimal desire not to pry. "Jeff why would you say something like that? Whatever happened can't be that bad can it?"

Jeff opened his mouth to answer but the words never came. Instead they both heard the sound. Something neither of them ever thought they'd hear again. The groaning, wheezing sound, almost like a stalling engine. The unmistakable sound of the Time Desk.

Their conversation instantly forgotten, the pair raced toward the sound. They rounded a corner and spotted Troy and Abed at the far end of the hallway. Clearly they'd heard it as well. They met near the middle, right in front of the storage closet door. The sound died off and the four former time travelers stared at each other.

"I thought, you said it was destroyed after your wild west adventure?" Jeff focused on Abed. He was the only one that knew how to operate the damn thing after all.

"I thought so too," Abed said. "It was run over by a train."

"I'm just glad I saw that time travel movie Clint Eastwood was in to let me know how to survive that showdown," Troy said.

Jeff shook his head and turned back to Abed. "So you have no idea how this thing could be back?"

"Pieces of it survived," Abed shrugged. "Maybe it could reform or something? I'm not Inspector Spacetime, Jeff. I don't have all the answers."

"You guys, does it even matter how it's back?" Annie said. "It's here, and we've all spent the last few months pretending none of it ever happened. We all agreed."

Annie didn't miss the sidelong glance Jeff fired her way. Their first time travel adventure proved a bit more personal than either was ready to admit at this point. It still freaked her out just a little bit to know Jeff was there the day she had her breakdown. She loved him for what he did to help her but it still scared her just as much.

"So what are we going to do about it now?" Troy opened the door.

The desk sat there, in the middle of the room. Waiting.

"We go to the future," Jeff stepped into the room, with everyone following behind.

"I don't think that's a good idea Jeff," Abed grabbed his arm. "Nothing good could come of knowing our destiny."

"Who said anything about knowing destiny," Jeff slipped his hand into the handle that opened the hatch. "I just want to go to tomorrow. Skip today altogether."

Annie sighed and shook her head.

"We can literally go any_where_ and any_time_, and you want to go to tomorrow," Troy said. "Jeff, my mom had a time travel method like that. She called it nap/plus adventure-alone time while she spoke to the mailman for a few hours in my parent's room."

Abed, Jeff, and Annie all paused and stared at Troy for a moment. He returned their gaze then his eyes bugged out when he finally, after who knew how many years, figured out what that particular lie was all about. Suddenly he grabbed the latch and flung the Time Desk open.

"Out of the way Jeff!" He vaulted over the side and descended the spiral staircase, into the guts of the Time Desk. "We're going back in time so I can beat up the mailman! And the Dog Catcher!"

The rest of them practically stumbled over themselves to get in. Luckily, even though Troy went on just as many time travel adventures as Abed, he never picked up on how to turn off the Time Desk's parking break, let alone learn to fly it. By the time they got to the central command console they caught him ratcheting a… lever back and forth as if it would pump them back a year each time he did.

"And the milk man and the dentist and my third grade teacher and… and… and…"

Abed yanked Troy's hand away from the controls and Troy moaned something about a paternity test. Annie took a second to survey the interior of the magical device they found themselves in. Virtually nothing looked changed. The same strange alien walls, mixed with random doodads that she recognized from earth. A seat from a car, a swing set off in the corner, and the consuel was a real hodgepodge of earth devices. Everything from a typewriter to a Foreman's Grill.

Abed finally calmed Troy down and Annie joined the pair and Jeff over by the central controls.

"…look," Jeff said. "We're all having sort of an emotional day. Maybe we should just shelve the entire idea of taking a trip in this thing. I don't think we ever had a relaxing time in it."

"We could go to Relaxus Prime," Troy said. "They have so much relaxation there that they export it to neighboring planets."

"What does that even mean?" Annie said.

"How should I know Annie, what do I look like? A Doctor?"

"What does _that_ mean?"

"I think Jeff is right," Abed said. "Each time travel adventure has been a mad capped rollercoaster ride where we spend most of our time running. Not to mention how big a disaster our first trip was."

"It wasn't a complete disaster," Annie eyed Jeff and remembered what they'd done for each other. Jeff's eyes might have twitched her direction but otherwise he didn't acknowledge it.

"Troy single-handedly almost destroyed the fabric of space and time," Abed said.

"It's not my fault!" Troy whined. "How was I supposed to know Britta was so handsey!? Or that Pierce reacted violently to missionary work!"

"I do not!" Pierce's voice jumped at them from the stairs and Annie felt her stomach hit the floor. In their previous adventures, they always considered bringing others along, Shirley or Britta usually. One time they even considered the dean. But they always voted against it and they always, always agreed that Pierce could never know.

Now he rushed down the spiral stairs, headed right toward them.

"Please fall and break your neck," Jeff whispered. A very small part of Annie wasn't offended at the notion.

"I love spreading the good news about Buddha and also… what is this place!?"

"Pierceeeeeeee!" Troy's voice got progressively higher as he stretched out the elderly man's name. "This…. This isn't what it looks like! It's… uh… a space ship… that can 'travel' in 'time' and dimensions."

Annie felt a stress headache coming on but determined not to let it overwhelm her at this point. They all kind of deserved whatever response Pierce gave them for letting Troy answer first.

"What Troy means," Jeff said. "Is that this… is… all a dream."

"Don't lie to me Jeff," Pierce crossed his arms. "If this is all a dream why does Annie still have all of her clothes, and why is Abed not a woman?"

"What?" Abed and Annie found themselves saying at the same time.

"Oh no," Pierce wandered near the console. "This place is real. I don't know what kind of crazy thing this is but it's real. Time travel huh? That's preposterous. Prove it."

"Nothing doing Pierce," it was Jeff's turn to cross his arms. "We're all out of time fuel."

"Abed," Pierce walked right past Jeff. "Make this thing time travel or I'll tell everybody about it. Starting with Leonard."

"Way over the line Pierce!" Jeff snapped.

"Um… sure Pierce," Abed nodded. "Just give me a minute to talk things over with the others. It's a very delicate process and I'll need everybody's help."

Abed motioned for a huddle and Annie crowded around him along with the others. The entire time, Pierce wandered around the time desk, looking at its various parts, certainly trying to figure it out.

"We have to be very careful," Abed said. "We could have a real Biff Tannon situation our hands. But I don't think there's any way out of this without a time travel excursion.

"Well we can't take him back in time!" Troy said. "He'll probably sleep with my mother!"

"Troy nobody is sleeping with your mother," Jeff said. "Let's just boot him out and go. He'll never be able to prove this is real. He'll just sound like… well like he always does."

"We can't take that chance," Abed said. "Which is why I propose we take your suggestion Jeff. Your first one. We travel ahead one day into the future. Pierce won't be able to mess with the timeline and he'll think this is so boring that he'll forget all about it."

"Okay," Annie said. "But after that we're going to Relaxus Prime. I think we need it now."

"Agreed," Jeff nodded.

The huddle broke and Abed went to the controls, directing the others to various panels and instructing them what they needed to do to operate them. Once everyone knew their job Abed set to work on the coordinates.

"Alright," Abed said. "Just a quick trip. Time and date set, hang onto something everybody."

Annie twisted her hand around the nearby rail and nodded to Jeff as he anchored himself to it as well. Abed worked the controls, the entire time Pierce loomed over him. Abed grabbed a hold of the central activating mechanism then looked to Pierce.

"Grab onto something Pierce."

"Make me!"

"Pierce this isn't a game!" Jeff snapped. "Just do what Abed said so we can get this over with!"

"Screw you Jeff! Just because it's your birthday doesn't make you my father."

"What did you say!?" Jeff shoved away from his rail.

Pierce, probably remembering how close he got to getting pummeled by Jeff earlier, bumbled backward right onto the controls. The main lever shot forward and the Time Desk shuddered then rumbled then knocked them all off their feet. Annie clung to the railing and felt her feet then body swing off the central platform and dangle in the air. Jeff had one hand wrapped around a support strut and used the other to flip Pierce off.

"We're being pulled into the Time Vortex!" Abed shouted.

"What does that mean!" Troy called back.

"It means.. um… it means… Geronimooooo!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I'll sue! You hear me A-bed!" Pierce dabbed his fingers at the bump on his head. "By the time I'm done I'll own every one of your dvd's, your camera equipment, and your stylish yet confusing t-shirts!"

He continued to rant and rave but Jeff couldn't hear it over the sound of his own coughing and wheezing. He swatted at the smoke in front of his face like a pestering fly; all the while he leaned on the railing that surrounded central controls. Try as he might he just couldn't seem to find fresh air. Abed kept shouting something about the environmental controls clearing the smoke, but that didn't stop it from stinging his eyes.

Somewhere out in the control room he heard Troy crying and Annie shouting something about the exit. He blinked away the tears the smoke forced from his eyes then squinted through the smoke. A shaft of light appeared and Annie shouted that she'd thrown the hatch open.

Jeff made for the light and nearly tripped off the central control platform, only barely catching the rail. His feet found the steps and after a few more moments of stumbling around, he found the spiral staircase and crawled up.

Annie held out her hand at the entrance and Jeff climbed out of the hatch, sucking in as much fresh air as he could before promptly coughing it out. Annie guided him to the pavement before thrusting her hand back into the desk's entrance and giving a hand to Troy. Pierce came out nearly on top of him, followed finally by Abed.

Only then did Annie collapse along with the rest of them, taking a spot between Jeff and Troy as all of them leaned their backs on the Time Desk and ignoring the billowing smoke coming from the hatch.

With fresh air finally finding a place in his lungs, Jeff took a moment to look around and gage their surroundings. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot to see. The darkened room didn't reveal much, as the only light came from the time desk hatch and a small slit of light from under a door.

Near as he could tell they were still in a closet.

"Where are we?" Troy voiced everyone else's questions.

"I think it's the storage closet still," Annie said.

"So the question is…" Abed glanced over to Troy and a mutual smile crept up their faces as they proceeded to speak in unison.

"…When are we?"

Jeff rolled his eyes and pulled himself up. After a moment of fumbling in his pocket then flipped on the flashlight app. The beam of light cast over the room, confirming the fact that they were in the same storage closet. With the same metal shelves and same supplies with the GCC logo imprinted on them.

"You're saying that we flew into some sort of time tornado and it didn't even take us anywhere?" Pierce grumbled.

"And we're lucky," Annie said. "This isn't a game Pierce we could have wound up anywhere. We could have died, or split in half a good version and an evil version, or never have existed at all!" She took a moment the looked to Abed. "Right?"

"I'm pretty sure if there was an evil version of me out there I would know it," Abed said. "But you're essentially right."

"Okay," Jeff said. "So what now?"

"We need to figure out when we are and…"

A sharp 'dong' from within the time desk cut Abed off. Even with his usual upright posture he stiffened. Troy shoved his head halfway down the hatch before pulling back up and looking over his shoulder.

"Um… Abed… the… Time… gum… is stuck underneath the table part of the time desk… is that bad?"

In the time that it took to blink, a flash of exasperation lit across Abed's face then vanished. "It will eventually damage the wood. But what we really need to be worrying about is that the relative spatial differential regulator is failing."

"And that's bad?" Pierce said.

"It means the protective fields in the time desk that shield us from temporal and spatial anomalies and paradoxes are breaking down. I need to take the time desk and recharge the regulator's power. A quick trip ought to do the trick."

Abed slung one leg over the desk and into the hatch. Annie grabbed his arm. "You can't just leave like this! We'll all go."

"I'd like to say that it's too dangerous… but I'm not Captain Jack Harkness so I can't think of a clever lie. Simply put, you guys kind of caused this so I kind of don't want you in the way."

"Okay but I'm coming with you!" Troy insisted.

"Of course," Abed shrugged. "You're my constable."

"What did he say?" Pierce asked as they started climbing into the time desk. "Is that a new code for gay?"

"We'll be right back," Abed said then looked to Jeff. "I'm counting on you to be as responsible as you were on our first trip. Stay where you are. I will find you!"

"Is that new gay code!?"

Jeff rolled his eyes as Abed clapped the hatch to the time machine shut. Pierce started toward it but Jeff grabbed his arm. A sudden wind kicked up, tossing loose pieces of paper and tissues into the air. The time desk croaked out its usual wheezing 'whorp' sound before disappearing entirely.

Both Jeff and Annie turned to Pierce, expecting a look of shock and awe at the sight of the desk disappearing into thin air. Both of them had nearly had heart attacks the first time they'd seen Troy and Abed do the exact same thing. But both wound up disappointed as Pierce just shrugged.

"So…" Annie nodded her head a bit toward the spot the Time Desk had occupied.

Pierce just shrugged again.

"You… don't have anything to say about what you just saw?" Jeff held out a hand at the empty space.

"Not particularly," Pierce said. 'When you're a Buddhist like me you see things like that all the time."

Jeff tightened his lips, much as he wanted to call Pierce out on his BS, he needed to be the adult. With the time desk gone, they had no choice but to wait for Troy and Abed to return, and in the meantime, getting Pierce riled up wouldn't help matters. He'd probably intentionally sneeze on the wrong butterfly just to spite everyone.

"So how long do we need to wait for them?" Pierce said. "I'll bet we're in the future! I want to see the future! I'll bet they've turned me into a hologram by now."

"They should be back any second," Annie said. "But we're not going anywhere until they do. We have no idea what's on the other side of that door."

"Like hover cars!" Pierce perked up.

"Or a post apocalyptic world where men's lives are cheap, academic accomplishment is useless, packs of dogs rove the halls of Greendale, all the while the students survive with a crude barter system based on their various real world skill sets and whatever supplies they may be able to scavenge. Those that can't trade are forced to beg for scraps or turn tricks to road warriors with gruff exteriors but hearts of gold."

"Bad ass!" Pierce all but glowed as he ran out the door, leaving Jeff and Annie standing together in the dark.

"Okay first," Jeff said after a moment. "If by some freak accident of time, that incredibly, weirdly thought out version of the apocalypse has happened, you have enough real world skills that you don't need to become a prostitute."

"But I wasn't…"

"Second, you can't describe a world of selfishness and greed as a deterrent for someone like Pierce. Third… after you."

Jeff gave her a little push toward the door and she squeaked and stopped just short.

"You'd really make me go first?"

"Well it's your brave new world Mad Maxine."

Annie glanced the door then back at Jeff. He nodded toward it. "I'm fine just staying in this closet, because the moment I walk out you know exactly which tasteless joke he's going to make so as far as I'm concerned, Sarah Connor: The College Years, can be the first out the door."

"Fine," Annie shot him a glare. "But if I am right I'm going to sell you for ball point pens and water!"

Jeff did his best to not snicker as he followed her out the door. Deep down he didn't really worry about anything Annie had predicted. He'd seen what Greendale looked like after an 'apocalypse' twice now, in fact. The supply closet was in much too good a shape for anything like that. Plus no paint splotches surrounded the walls.

The door opened and he squinted through the light. Pierce stood right in front of door; staring down one side of the hall then to the other. At first Jeff couldn't figure out what fascinated him so much. It was just Greendale. The same halls, the same tiles the same everything.

But after a moment of looking around, things jumped out at him. The tiles practically gleamed, the paint hugged the walls tightly without any cracks or chips, and no black mold to be seen. Letters ran across the wall, proudly proclaiming this the home of the Greendale Grizzlies. Even the mysterious acid burns on the walls were missing.

Even more telling, were the students. Flock of seagulls, massive perms, denim jackets with stone washed jeans and mullets. So many mullets. One particular student bounced by carting a massive stereo on his shoulder, supporting it with a gloved hand with the fingers cut off. The boom box blasted the 'The Power of Love' and it all clicked in Jeff's mind and he knew when they were.

"It's much worse than a post apocalyptic world," his stomach sank. "We're in the 80's."

"My God." Annie whispered as a sea of perms washed past them.

Annie scooted closer to Jeff, just as a student wearing a complete replica of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' suit and arguing with another student as to whether Pacman or Mario was better. He could only shake his head at the sight. It figured that Greendale would not only partake in every 80's fad, they did it to the point where they were almost a parody of the 80's. If it wasn't all so weird he might have actually found himself enjoying it. Instead he found his hand clasping Annie's when a guy wearing a Garbage Pale Kid's t-shirt rolled by on a skate board.

A sudden noise drew his attention from the ocean clichés that was 80's Greendale. A horrible, bone chilling noise he'd come to know over the course of three years. A sound that almost invariably meant something awful was about to happen or had just happened. It also often accompanied a crude variation on the 'silent but deadly' joke.

Pierce giggled uncontrollably. Annie squeezed Jeff's hand a little tighter before letting go and approaching him. Just for safety, Jeff flanked the elderly man's other side. That way he couldn't escape and bang Troy's mom. Annie placed a tentative hand on Pierce's shoulder.

"Is everything okay?" she said as nicely as she could.

"Are you kidding?" Pierce said between hissy giggles. "This. Is. Fantastic! The 1980's, the second greatest decade in the history of ever! Bill Cosby finally convinced us that Blacks were people, Cell Phones were large enough that you could trip over them if you lost them, SNL didn't totally suck… I can't wait to seduce Madonna again. Like the very first time!"

Jeff latched onto Pierce's arm. "Pierce… as an obvious fan of this decade I feel like I shouldn't need to remind you of a small indie flick called 'Back to the Future'. If you recall, things get a little messy when you go running around a time period that's not yours. You can't sleep with Madonna or with the Madonna look a like you more than likely slept with the first time."

"Screw you Jeff! You're just jealous because all you did during the 80's was get a visit from the puberty fairy and learn that your dad didn't love you!"

"Pierce!" Jeff's grip on the old man tightened and his other hand curled into a fist. Annie stepped in between them and her fingers gently pried his away from Pierce's arm. With a slight nod she directed him off to the side where she kept firm lock on his elbow.

"Look, I know it's been a rough day for you but you can't let Pierce get under your skin like this. Because right now we're stuck in my parent's yearbook and I don't want him running from you in it."

Jeff sighed and did his best to clear his head. Once again Annie was right, and while part of him really would have enjoyed pummeling Pierce, at the moment, he recognized he needed to keep a level head. Especially if today was the day he dreaded it might be.

"Okay," he nodded to her, enjoying the way her eyes lit up with relief. "I promise not to fly off the handle as long as Pierce promises to… Pierce! Stop running off!"

The old man was nearly halfway down the hall by the time they noticed him. Forgetting Annie for the moment, Jeff tore after him. Once, just once, Jeff wanted to be able to turn his head and not worry about Pierce throwing his fail around. And now he remembered why he hated time travel. The constant running. Running to stop Annie from breaking the future, running to stop Troy from getting shot by Mark Twain, and now chasing after Pierce.

With a small huff, Jeff threw himself around the corner he just saw Pierce turn. Instead of catching his target, Jeff managed to knock into some kid, and himself, in front of some maniac driving a golf cart through the hallways. The cart smacked both of them and Jeff flew hard on his back, smacking his head. The last thing he saw before he fell into unconsciousness, was a slightly younger Leonard climbing out of the golf cart and Annie rushing to help him, all the while the kid he'd accidentally saved just stared stupidly.

The familiar scent of formaldehyde and cannabis filled his nose when woke up. The sure sign that, not only was he in the student health center, but Starburns apparently attended Greendale in the 80's and still kept a stash in the medicine cabinet. In spite of that, he took in a breath and opened his eyes.

It took a moment to focus but he saw Annie just above him and felt her hand stroking his hairline. In spite of everything Jeff smiled up at her. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision, at the same time he took his hand in hers.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey!" another voice answered instead of hers. "Get your hands off my girlfriend!"

Jeff blinked again and looked to his side, the young man that shared the accident with him stood there, leaning against the cabinets. He glared at Jeff with his arms folded and a small bandage on his head. Apparently Jeff got the worse of it. Jeff turned back to Annie, except it wasn't Annie. Just a girl that looked a lot like Annie. Really a lot like Annie. She winked at him and let go of his hand.

"What's going on?" Jeff sat up.

"One of the weirdos that goes to this college hit you with a golf cart," Not Annie said. "You took most the impact, god only knows how bad it would have been if you hadn't been there."

"I wouldn't have been hit at all," David puffed his chest up a bit. "And I can't believe you're not only thanking this guy but also flirting with him after he's the one that knocked me in the path of that golf cart!"

"I… I'm sorry Dave," she faltered for a moment. "Look I know we've had some problems this year but I was just trying to be nice to him. You really could have been hit either way. And you saw how worried I was about you. Don't be mad, please?"

"I…" David stammered. For whatever reason, something in there really struck him. "I didn't… you really mean that… Leah, I'm sorry. I really have been kind of an asshole."

Jeff groaned. Teenaged drama. He'd gone back in time and that was what he had having to suffer through. These kids couldn't be older than eighteen but they stood there and acted like freaking Romeo and Juliet. This was why he was so glad to not be a teenager anymore. Thankfully he didn't have to endure them much longer. A nurse walked in with a clipboard.

"Well!" she beamed at the young couple. "It seems like you two are ready to go and how about you 'Mr. Winger' if that's your real name. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," he grumbled. "And of course that's my real name."

"And I suppose this drivers license that expires in 2015 is real too huh?" she held up his wallet.

"Um… nurse can we go?" Leah said. "David and I will be late for our study group."

"Yes, yes," the nurse said. "You two love birds have fun now!"

"I think…" David said. "I think we will. After you Miss Leiber."

"Why thank you," Leah took his arm. "But it's 1985, ladies don't need to go first. After you Mr. Edison."

The couple left but the names lingered in Jeff's head. Lieber… Edison… Jeff's mind shot to the obvious conclusion. Annie's parents? Jeff leaned forward in his bed so he could see them walking down the hall. Annie never mentioned them attending Greendale… had to be a coincidence. Yes. Just a strange coincidence that this couple just happened to have the same last names as Annie's parents.

Jeff sat back in his bed, only to snap straight back up when Annie ran into the room with Troy, Abed, and Pierce in tow. Once again, Troy and Abed had taken a solo trip in the time desk and once again they returned dressed in a completely ridiculous fashion.

During whatever time adventure they'd just been on, Abed grew his hair out until it just flopped over on one side. To further accentuate his strange new look, he wore a tweed jacket and a bow tie. He didn't look much like Inspector Spacetime so Jeff really had no idea who he was supposed to be.

Once again Troy was more obvious. Last time he wore an exact replica of Marty Mcfly's outfit from 'Back to the Future'. Now he wore Marty's futuristic jacket and sneakers from the sequel. The ten year old hiding deep down in Jeff's heart was suddenly jealous because they probably did all the things they did in the movie, and Troy probably had a hoverboard.

"Jeff!" Annie ran up to him. "Are you alright?"

"Annie!" Jeff swung his legs off the bed and grabbed her shoulder. "I gotta say, am I glad to see you guys. Now we can get back to the time desk and get the hell out of here! I could have sworn that I was in here with your parents."

"My parents!" Annie looked around. "No, you have to be mistaken. My parents never went Greendale."

"Of course," Jeff let out a relieved breath. "It was just two dumb teenagers that had your parent's last names."

"Um…" Abed stepped forward. "Annie, are you absolutely sure about this? We can't take any chances here."

"Of course I'm sure," Annie said. "My mom and dad graduated with their class. Both of them attended different universities before they got back together and married at the end of their studies."

"Got back together?" Abed said.

Annie nodded, "They dated in high school but broke up just before they graduated."

Abed stepped closer. "_How_ just before?"

"I don't know," Annie shrugged. "They never went into that much detail. All I know is that my mom said she thought my dad was a jerk, they broke up during a college scouting trip and… oh no."

"What?" Troy said. "Did we just Britta time again?"

"What's going on?" Pierce said. "I don't know what you're all fussing about. So what if Annie's parents were here. Was it the couple we saw pawing each other as we walked in? I don't think I need to tell you they look thrilled to be together. I mean I can't see what she sees in that guy but it's not my place to judge."

"Of all the times for you to say it's not your place to judge," Jeff shook his head. "This is seriously the one you're choosing?"

"There's only one way to be sure," Abed said as he reached over to Pierce and yanked the spy pen from his shirt pocket. Pierce looked ready to protest but Annie held a hand onto his shoulder, stopping him as Abed worked.

The young time traveler held up a small device to the pen, it buzzed and glowed green for a moment then he waved it in front of them before taking out his own cell phone and waving the light in front of it.

"I've just sent you all a copy of the picture Pierce took of all of us during Jeff's birthday party. With any luck, there won't be a change."

Jeff's phone beeped and he clicked it on. Sure enough, Pierce's horrible picture was there. Complete with all the happy birthday partier's laughing as Jeff stared slack jawed into the camera. Jeff shook his head at the picture, it was awful; his head looked too big and the light just caught the angles of his face all wrong.

"Oh good," Troy said. "Annie's still there,"

"Oh yeah," Jeff forced his eyes off himself and focused on Annie in the picture. Sure enough, there she was, grinning happily at having surprised Jeff. He almost felt bad about the whole thing again.

"So looks like we have nothing to worry about…" Troy trailed off as he continued looking at the picture. "Oh no! No! Are you guys seeing this?"

Jeff caught it at nearly the same time. Annie remained strong in the picture but Britta had become see through. And while common sense would tell him that people fading from pictures, just like in Back to the Future was ridiculous… they'd kind of left the place where common sense really mattered.

"Why is Britta fading!?" Troy said. "Is she actually Annie's sister or something?"

"No," Abed started pacing. "But I think it's safe to say that we altered history. If I had to take a guess, it would be because Jeff pushed Annie's dad in front of the golf cart, Annie's mom didn't break up with him then. Which means that we altered history."

"But I'll still be born won't I?" Annie said. "Right Abed?"

"There's no way to tell," he shook his head. "Maybe this event got them to stay together, maybe it led to an eventual permanent break up. It could even lead to you being born earlier. Either way, we know that it altered history, so either Annie wasn't born or she never joined the study group, which is why the picture is fading."

"No…" Annie squeaked.

"So you're telling me that if we go back to our time, Britta won't be there?" Pierce said.

"None of us will be," Abed said. "At least not like now."

"Well we need to do something to fix it," Jeff jumped off the bed. "We can use the time desk to go back and stop me from pushing him in front of the cart."

"It won't work," Abed shook his head. "We've already altered history, which means we became a part of it. Since none of you remember Jeff stopping himself it means it didn't happen. To try to do so now would likely create a paradox or something that's in all the really complicated sci fi time travel adventures."

"I'm not going to be born…"

"What if we go back in time and collect a whole bunch of historical figures," Troy said. "Like George Washington, Attila the Hun, Groucho Marx… and we brought them all here. Maybe we could get them to do a presentation and it would somehow fix things?"

"I'm going to fade from existence…"

"Annie!" Jeff grabbed her shoulder. "You're going to be born. And I know what we have to do. The answer is staring us in the face. Your parents were supposed to break up today, and that's what's going to happen. We're going to pull a reverse Marty Mcfly. Instead of getting your parents together, we're going to break them up."

The small group paused at Jeff's thought. Then, one by one, they all turned to look to Abed. He rubbed his chin for a moment then made eye contact with Annie. Finally he nodded and smiled.

"It's our best shot," he said.

The small group cheered, including Pierce, who seemed to be more or less pretending to understand anything that was just said. Jeff caught Annie smiling up at him and he returned it, happy to at least see that she wasn't worried about not existing anymore. Abed and Troy began discussing plans and his eyes drifted off to a calendar in the corner.

His stomach twisted when he saw the date. It wasn't just any day in 1985. It was exactly what he'd worried about. They'd traveled exactly twenty seven years into the past to the day. It was still his birthday. Still his eighth birthday…

A small cough brought him escape from his train of thought and he turned, along with the rest of the group to see the nurse glaring at them. Apparently she'd heard their entire conversation. Jeff was almost surprised she wasn't calling for the men in white coats.

"Just pretend you're asle-" Troy started to say but Jeff shooed them all out the door, managing a sheepish grin at the nurse just before he exited himself. She just rolled her eyes and Jeff turned back to the task at hand.

Operation: Break Annie's Parents up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

At first, Annie thought 1985 might not break her brain. Sure, some of the styles forced her to press her mouth shut and not laugh. And yeah, hearing people say things like 'rad' and 'cowabunga' unironically was sort of off putting. But none of that really ruined the time period for her. If anything they made it more endearing.

And if the weirdness ended at dated slang, stone washed jeans and side pony tails, Annie could handle it. But instead the weirdness revolved around the fact that they spent the last hour tailing her teenaged parents who looked to be on the verge of conceiving her five years early.

Her mind boggled at that thought. She would never go to school and crush on Troy. She might never get addicted to Adderall and even if she did, Jeff wouldn't be there to talk to her mother as an ambulance chaser. She'd almost be Britta's age! They might even go to school together!

Only sticking close to her little group kept her half sane; particularly Abed. As long as Abed was there they had a way to get back into the Time Desk and alter events if everything went to hell.

On the other hand, Jeff hovered near her at almost every turn. Whenever they hugged a corner and waited for Annie's parents to move in a position where they wouldn't be noticed; he always landed right next to her and his hand was never far away from taking her by the shoulder or arm to 'make sure she kept up'.

They finally ended up in the cafeteria, huddled at a table that was most likely the exact same one they used in the twenty first century. Her parents remained on the far end of the cafeteria feeding each other french fries.

"Man have you tasted these?" Troy mumbled with a mouthful of said fries. "These are the best fries I've ever tasted! Like someone at this time period found Jaquez Gerad Fries original recipe and started making them right here."

"Who?" Jeff narrowed his eyes.

"You know, the guy that invented French fries," Troy popped another in his mouth.

"That's poppycock," Pierce said. "Everyone knows that french fries weren't actually invented by a Frenchman."

"For once Pierce-"

"They were invented by Benjamin Franklin when he served as our ambassador to France, he fought off fifteen Chinese samurai and twelve runaway slaves who wanted to steal the recipe but was saved at the last minute by a dashing young man by the name of Adolph Thaddeus Hawthorne."

"For real?" Troy almost spit out his fries.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Troy, will you listen to him? Chinese Samurai? Runaway slaves? I keep thinking you won't get sucked into his racist netherworld but you keep doing it."

"We have a time machine," Pierce said. "Why don't we go there and I'll let my Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather kick your ass too."

"It's not because they have the original recipe french fry," Abed finally said. "It's because these fries are loaded with msg's and canola oil that is banned in the twenty first century. I remember my Dad complaining about it when it happened. He said it took all the flavor out of them."

"Damn our healthy futuristic ways," Troy muttered. "We need to get our hands on some of these mgm's and Carolina oil before we go."

"Guys can we focus here!" Annie finally slapped her hand on the table. "My parents are sitting over there, eating those artery clogging fries and destroying the fabric of time and space in the process! We're not here to hear Pierce's racist pseudo-history or plan oil heists! We're here to break them up!"

"Annie's right," Jeff said. "We can focus on stealing deliciously fattening and unhealthy food products later. Abed, you're our resident time guru. What's our plan?"

Abed eyed the young couple across the room for a minute and Annie noticed Jeff's hand slip closer to hers. She her gaze away and reminded herself to focus. They'd maroon her at Woodstock if she acted like a hypocrite now and didn't zero in on the mission.

"Annie," Abed drew her attention. "I'm correct to assume that your parents broke up at this time in their lives because of petty reasons? A simple argument that escalated into an all out shouting match and break up?"

"I'm not sure," Annie shook her head.

"For example. Let's say your mom decided that she wanted to watch _Beaches_ and turned it on even though your dad had previously reserved that time for watching _Knightrider_. And your mom sat down and watched it anyway, ignoring the popcorn and detailed notes on the complexities of KIT and David Hasselhoff's buddy cop relationship even though one of them is a love machine and the other has enough hair on his chest to make Tom Sellack envious."

"Um…" Jeff said but Annie just rolled her eyes.

"Abed! Really?" she leaned forward a bit. "Are you still holding my Ann of Green Gables marathon against me? Really?"

"I didn't say that," Abed said. "But maybe it wouldn't hurt for your mom to check the dvr presets before she watches _Fact's of Life_."

"What the hell are you all talking about?" Pierce jumped in.

"I'm with Pierce," Jeff stood up, but his hand not only stayed on the table, it inched ever closer to her own. "We're only staying in this time… day… period… whatever, because we're trying to stop the future from disappearing like vintage fattening vegetable oil, negligent fathers, or Teddy Ruxpins! So here's what we're going to do, Annie's parents need to be broken up, I say we go full on Back to the Future on this mother…"

Jeff paused when Annie let out a groan, but by this time Pierce, Abed, and Troy all stared with enthralled smiles on their faces. Especially Abed.

"… So yeah," Jeff nodded toward a banner on the far wall. "Tonight is Greendale's Love Amongst the Star dance. I say we let the one amongst us who has the most experience and best chance take a run at Annie's mom and split her from her dad by the sheer force of lust."

"Oh and I suppose that one to force Annie's mom's lust happens to be you," Troy locked eyes with Jeff. Annie felt her hands grip the table. The conversation had gone from bad to horrendous.

"I didn't say that Troy," Jeff shrugged. "But let's be realistic here. One of us has the patented and proven moves to pitch woo and the other doesn't."

"What are you talking about? I can pitch woo with the best of them! Ask Annie! I got moves!"

Annie tilted her head slightly at Troy and pursed her lips. This entire conversation was gross enough, the last thing she wanted was to become a participant. Especially when it incessantly distracted her from actively blocking images of her mother and Jeff making out. The only small consolation, if at this point it could even have been considered a good thing, was that Jeff's hand now nearly touched hers. Couldn't he pick a better time to do this? And still he didn't look at her. He just kept his eyes locked on Troy.

"I'm sure on some planet," he smirked when Annie didn't answer. "Your moves are quite impressive. Unfortunately your weak link is that this is Earth."

"Or maybe this is just Earth 2, the parallel Earth where Superman fought crime in 1938, married Lois Lane and served as mentor to Power Girl! My moves would kick your ass on that Earth!"

"That doesn't make sense," Jeff shook his head.

"Jeff, we're in 1985 and we got here via a Time Machine shaped like the dean's desk. You really expect sense to make sense?"

"This couldn't be Earth 2," Abed jumped in.

"Thank you Abed," Jeff nodded. "Now can we please stop bickering and-"

"And it's probably not a parallel dimension because the Time Desk's anti-paradoxagraph is still functioning, but it did take a beating in our trip here. So I wouldn't recommend doing anything that might cause temporal paradox's like in the episode of Inspector Spacetime, _Temporal Paradox_, where Constable Reggie goes back in time and tickles himself as a baby."

"Okay, Abed, this isn't helping!" Jeff shook he head and rolled his eyes. "This isn't some episode of a weird British sci fi series. This is actual time travel and we have a job to do. So can we please…" Jeff trailed off in mid sentence and his eyes narrowed off to the far side of the cafeteria. "… Wait! Is that Mikhail Gorbachev shaking hands with still black Michael Jackson?"

Both Troy and Abed whipped their heads around but Annie followed Jeff's eyes as they darted from the imaginary distraction and settled on her hand. His fingers moved quickly for hers but instead of clasping her hand he slipped right past it and snatched a few of the artery clogging fries.

"Really?" Annie rolled her eyes in Jeff's direction. "All of this talk about seducing my mom, all of this 'seriousness' and you were just trying to hork some fries without us seeing?"

"You don't understand Annie," Jeff said. "I remember what these fries were like. When I eat them it's like… like my mouth is a virgin..."

"Stop! Please stop!" Annie clapped her hand on the table. Troy and Abed began helping themselves to the fries. She already regretted the ones she'd eaten earlier. But she was surprised that Pierce hadn't eaten all of… and it was only with that thought that she noticed what all of them should have seen.

"Where's Pierce?" she had to stop herself from jumping out of her seat.

The other three in their group froze, noticed Pierce's empty seat, then started looking around. Abed fumbled for the picture of the Study Group taken earlier that day. Annie's heart skipped a nervous beat. Could Pierce have vanished without a trace?

"We're all still in the picture," Abed said. "So Pierce hasn't disappeared. Otherwise the picture wouldn't exist at all."

"Okay this isn't a big deal," Annie said. "All we have to do is… oh hell!"

The others quickly followed Annie's eyes until they saw the horrific scene as well. On the far end of the cafeteria Pierce, stood in front of Jeff and Annie's parents; He wore his patented Pierce smile, the one that was as sleezy as it was ineffective. Annie's stomach churned when Pierce winked at Annie's mom and then snapped at her dad.

A moment later the scene went from bad to worse. Annie's mom gasped and her dad jumped from his seat and started yelling at Pierce, jabbing his finger in the older man's chest. Before Annie really knew what was happening, Jeff had her by the hand and pulled her, along with himself, over to the temporal paradox Abed had prophesied.

They arrived there just as Annie's mom yelled at her dad to calm down and then proceeded to slap Pierce in the face. Annie tried pulling her hand out of Jeff's the closer they got but he just tightened his grip. Didn't he understand? Her parents were teenagers! Younger than her! Her skin crawled just thinking about it.

But Jeff only let go once they reached Pierce. Annie jumped at the her freedom by grabbing the Study Group's oldest member by the arm and trying to lead him away; making sure to keep her head down and curtain as much of her face with her hair as she could. Meanwhile Troy, Abed, and Jeff worked at diffusing the situation.

"He's got a lot of nerve talking to my girl like that!" Annie's dad stepped up to Jeff. "He your grandpa or something?"

"Unfortunately we don't even have that excuse," Jeff mumbled as he slid himself between Annie, Pierce and her dad.

"All I did was compliment her bust," Pierce said and Annie grit her teeth, but not as much as she did upon hearing her mother speaking.

"Get this man away from me!" she said in a voice nearly identical to Annie's.

Annie felt her nails dig into Pierce's skin. All the fights she'd had with her mother and she never noticed the similarities. Now each little movement, each word uttered, each huff of breath drove things home to Annie that she never wanted to think about.

"Aren't you the guy that almost got me killed?" Annie's dad stood up tall, almost reaching Jeff's height.

"Come on Pierce," Troy said with a forced smile taking up almost half his face. "There's that cool 80's thing that you're late for!"

"Primetime episodes of the Golden Girls for example!" Abed grabbed his other arm.

"David I need to get some air," Annie's mom said, staring at Pierce like he was a serial killer.

"You need me to come with you?" he glanced back from Jeff.

"I... no I'll be alright," She said quietly before taking a couple of steps backward, her eyes never leaving Pierce. After a few more seconds she turned and picked up her pace, taking a few glances back every so often.

Annie's eyes locked with Jeff, without a word he gave the slightest of nods toward her mom. She shook her head and glanced back to see her mom almost to the exit. Pierce muttered something about Annie's dad looking gayer than Seacrest. And even though he couldn't have possibly have understood that slur, it seemed to enrage him even more. Jeff had to grip his shoulders to keep him off Pierce, and even then he found the moment to look at Annie and direct his eyes toward her fleeing mother.

Even though she hated admitting it, deep down Annie knew that Jeff was right and she picked up speed to catch up and not let her mother slip out of sight. Luckily she didn't need to trail her for very long. She went exactly where Annie probably would have retreated to in such a situation. The best possible escape from a hairy situation involving men at Greendale.

The women's restroom.

The door swung shut right as Annie reached it. She paused just in front of it and sucked in a quick breath. Before she even realized what she was doing she lifted her hand and knocked on the door. A couple of passing students paused and fired her curious looks. Annie forced a grin.

"Hey guyyy's," she said. "I was just making sure it was… um… groovy… if I went in… cause it would be totally bogus if I interrupted st"

At that point Annie abandoned her attempts to justify herself and just slipped through the bathroom door as fast as she could and smashed right into her mother. The two of them toppled to the ground. Annie groaned and rolled over; vaguely aware that her mom was making the exact same sound just about a foot away.

"Did you? Did you knock on the door before you came in?" her mom said while holding her head.

"No…" Annie rolled her eyes. "That's just… that's just… we… you're name is Leah right?"

"Yeah," her mom said. "And… you're the granddaughter of that maniac that said my boobs were young and vigorous."

"I'm… it's a very distant relation actually," Annie said.

"Well distance is exactly everything I want from him and you! What's your problem anyway? Did your mom drop you when you were a baby?"

"Well you would known," Annie muttered and furrowed her brows.

"What?"

"Nothing," Annie said as quickly as possible. And it was in that moment that Annie realized that spending so much time with Troy and or Jeff. Three years ago she wouldn't have even dreamed about talking back to her mother like that... five years before she would even be born.

"So why are you still here?"

"I… I came to… um apologize for him. For Pierce. I know that he's creepy and rude. But deep down he's a good person. I think he was genuinely trying to compliment you."

"He said he could recommend kosher compliant bras for me."

"Okay and he's a bit racist too but the point is that he took the time to notice that you were Jewish and that you are… well put together and he just said it all in a really horrible way."

"Like you just now?"

"Yeah," Annie sighed.

And then something happened that Annie didn't expect. Her mom raised a brow and then smiled at her. The immediate and near overwhelming urge to run away screaming and yelling, right to time desk, surged up from Annie's feet. And she almost acted on it, but her butt remained planted on the tile as her mom extended her hand.

"Honesty. I like that. Leah Lieberman which apparently you know already, but how about you return the favor."

Annie tried to smile but wasn't sure if her lips expressed a smile or a grimace. She extended her hand and realized that she couldn't tell her mother her real name. She had to think of a new one, and she had to think fast because she was shaking her hand and her mom was giving her an expecting look.

And it was with that look, that Annie really realized that it was her mom. Minus a few wrinkles, a few pounds, and surprisingly a lot of gray hair. But it was her mother. And all Annie could think about was the fight they would have in twenty three years and it was the last time they ever spoke, and all she could remember of that moment that had any relevance to names was the designer dress her mom bought her as a graduation present.

"Victoria Beckham," Annie blurted out. "My name is Victoria Beckham."

"Victoria," her mom grinned. "I have a good feeling about you."

* * *

By the time they returned to the cafeteria, Annie found that she had passed the awkward, terrified stage, bypassed the BFF stage and strode right into the familiar territory of wanting to scream and tear her hair out at the end of every one of her mother's sentences.

The key difference now being that it had nothing to do with wrinkling a new dress and everything to do with the fact that her new "BFF" just wouldn't shut the hell up! Since when was her mom so damn chatty? Or was this what it was like to be one of her friends from the club? The ones that Annie always had to either stay in her room or leave the house whenever they came over.

Annie very much figured that was the case.

At any rate she put that concern aside and eye balled the cafeteria for any sign of her group and her dad. It didn't take very long. And while she was relieved that her guys still hung along side of her dad, she could only shake her head at the sight of them.

Troy and Abed engaged her dad in animated conversation, waving their hands around as they told whatever story they thought would connect with her dad. Pierce stood nearby; strangely nodding his head as if, once, just once, he followed the conversation. But Jeff? Jeff leaned against a nearby wall, occasionally nodding his head their way while he texted as quickly as his thumbs allowed.

"So Victoria," her mom drew her attention as they neared their group. "You'll have to introduce me to your friends…"

Annie almost winced. More aliases… she could do it. She knew she could.

"Well you already met my… relative… Fletch," Annie nodded toward Pierce.

"Fletch…" Annie's dad narrowed his eyes. "Like the Chevy Chase movie?"

"Oh don't worry," Pierce huffed. "I get that a lot."

"I'll bet you do," he responded and tilted his head to the side as he stared at Pierce's face before shaking his head and mouthing 'nah'.

"And these two?" Annie's mom gestured at Troy and Abed.

"This is… this is…" Annie's mind suddenly flashed to all the time travel films Abed forced them to watch in order to be ready for time travel adventures. "These are Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan."

Troy and Abed beamed and Annie's mom nodded at them before turning to Jeff. "And this… tall one?"

"Ryan Seacrest."

Jeff made half a wave but didn't even look up from his phone. Annie's mom turned to Troy and Abed and struck up a conversation. Annie took the moment to grab Jeff by the arm and drag him away from the group. She ignored his protests until they had enough distance so as not to be overheard.

"What the Hell Annie!?" Jeff said.

"No! What the hell _Jeff_!" Annie smacked his arm. "You're supposed to be out here convincing my Dad to break up with my Mom!"

"Troy and Abed had that covered," Jeff shrugged.

"So you just decided to check out and use your very obviously future phone to write texts!? Who the hell are you even writing? Nobody you know has a phone that can receive texts right now let alone that fact that the satellites that are supposed to transmit the messages haven't even built yet!"

"I just like to think they're out there," Jeff grinned then motioned dramatically with his hands. "…Out there somewhere, floating in the ether. Waiting for some lucky girl to pick them up once the satellites are in position. And she'll know that I'm out there… somewhere…"

Jeff heaved a dramatic sigh and Annie rolled her eyes and tried not to look at him when he smirked. She didn't need to be disarmed right now. Luckily she didn't need to refocus Jeff with a lecture. The possibility presented itself when her mom laughed, loud enough to startle a nearby student out of his seat. Jeff and Annie turned toward her and Jeff's smile faded. She continued to snort and giggle while hanging onto Annie's dad's shoulder.

"So I take it your luck wasn't much better than ours?'

"No," Annie sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, sorry to say but your dad is really whupped," Jeff shook his head. "I don't get it. I thought you said they broke up? They don't look like they're even close to that."

Off to the side Annie couldn't help but notice her parents cuddling a little, she pursed her lips and looked back at Jeff. "I don't know what's going on. My Mom used to go on and on about how she knew in high school that it wouldn't work out and she never should have gotten back together with him."

"I'm not seeing it Annie."

"Okay…" Annie stared at her parents. "Well then… our answer is that we need to keep them apart. Troy and Abed and you can talk to my Dad and tell him what a bitter, unforgiving, harsh, shrew that she is and I'll talk to my Mom and tell her that she shouldn't be with my Dad because he doesn't call on holidays, forgets birthdays, is late to every ballet recital to the point where he might as well missed the entire damn thing, and pretty much isn't there whenever you need him!"

Jeff blinked at her and only then did Annie realize she how quick her breath fired from her chest.

"Okay," Jeff put a hand on her shoulder. "Here I thought this time travel adventure would force me to confront some of _my_ skeletons, but yikes! You definitely have some ammunition there."

"Yeah," Annie as a shudder ran up her spine. The more she looked at her parents the more memories crept, uninvited to her mind. "So I guess those are a start."

"They could be but I don't think that will work," Jeff said. "See, the more we push them away from each other the faster they'll run back into each other's barely post-pubescent bodies."

"Jeff! Ew! Those are my parents you're talking about!"

"The point is that love makes people stupid and make them do things they would never consider doing if their brains weren't being choked by little cupids and butterflies. They jump in front of trains for each other, or take the rap to protect each other, and it this decade make them write obnoxiously long power ballads.

"Jeff…"

"What I'm getting at is the harder we push the more your parents will ignore any doubts and just fight harder for each other."

"Okay so what's your brilliant plan?"

Jeff glanced back at the small group then back at her. "Alright, you go and keep your dad distracted and… just know that what I do, I do for the sake of the future."

"Didn't you use that line on Madame De Pompadour?"

"And it would have worked if it hadn't been for that guy with the banana daiquiri."

Annie narrowed her eyes but Jeff just met her gaze with that patented "trust me" look. By this point in their relationship Annie had learned to go against her gut instinct to let that look pull her in. A sudden laugh from her mom cut off the insistence for more information that was about to leave her mouth. Suddenly she found herself nodding and moving over to the group.

"So," Her dad took notice of her as soon as she approached. "Your friends Bill and Ted here were just telling me about some sort of adventure that they were having."

Annie did her best not to roll her eyes when Troy and Abed did their handshake.

"Yeah, they're just like puppies," Annie said and her stomach turned a bit when she got closer. "Like little Pomeranians that get into everything as soon as your daughter let's them out of their pen and accidentally destroys the cake for your ten year wedding anniversary!"

"Yeah," her dad raised a brow. "Exactly like that… what was your name again?"

"Victoria Beckham," Annie said and tried to ignore Troy and Abed, who she knew were rolling their eyes at her. "And you're David… mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," he nodded. "I wanted to speak to you too."

"Really?" Annie force down the butterflies that beat their wings against her stomach. Her dad wanted to talk to her.

"Yeah," he said then excused them from Troy and Abed. Once they had a good distance, he turned to Annie and seemed to almost force a smile. She couldn't really tell.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she said.

"You followed Leah after your creepy grandpa hit on her. I just wanted to make sure she was alright."

"Oh," Annie said. "Yeah she's fine. Totally fine. Fine as a fiddle."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"No idea?" Annie moaned then took a deep breath. "Sorry, it's kind of an off day for me. Let me try again. Leah is alright. She just needed to get away but everything's okay now."

"Alright," her dad nodded and then a relieved smile appeared on his face a smile that Annie found herself copying. "Okay, well great then. You don't know how relieved that makes me. Leah and I… well sometimes we're like oil and water, but you know, I couldn't live without her. And I really worry about her sometimes."

The room shrank around Annie as she stared into her father's eyes. The last words he spoke echoed in her mind and conjured up memories. She refused to speak to him after her adderall induced accident, but she vividly remembered the last conversation she had with him, less than two months before she over dosed. Those words. Those exact same words. He said them to her almost every time the spoke even as distant as he was he knew her life had been spiraling down. The butterflies in her stomach now spun sickeningly fast.

"You alright?" her dad placed a steadying hand on her elbow. "You're looking a little pale and… wow…"

"Huh?"

"Your eyes. I swear they look just like Leah's."

"I… I gotta…" her mother's laugh drew her away from the sudden panic welling up inside her. Annie glanced back to where she stood. And there Jeff was. Leaning against a wall, grinning at her mom while holding her hand.

Deep down. Annie knew she should have seen this coming. Jeff hitting on her mom was probably one of those temporal facts that Abed kept going on and on about. And when she thought about it, Annie realized he probably told the truth. That this was for the sake of the future and his plan for splitting up her parents.

That knowledge didn't make the sight in front of her any less horrific, or nauseating. It didn't douse any fires of anger at him or at his mom that suddenly ignited inside of her. And it certainly didn't stop her mind from reeling at the possibility of what would happen if Jeff and her mom actually…

She didn't manage to even say 'excuse me' to her dad. One second she stared at Jeff flirting with her mom, the next she ran, hands over her mouth, toward the bathroom. Maybe it was all the result of the ridiculously good but unhealthy fries or the result of spinning in the Time Vortex. All that Annie knew as she tired to get to a toilet before vomiting was how much she hated time travel.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Context was everything.

Politicians, Holy Men, Actors, directors, regular Janes and Joes all lived and died on context. Jeff knew this because he was a lawyer, or at least he would be in a little over a decade. And during his lawyering days he learned the value of context. To a lawyer it meant everything. An out of context quote could mean seeing your guy walk or seeing him thrown behind bars and promising that you would eventually be his bitch.

Which was why, for the love of him, Jeff couldn't figure out Annie's deal. He made sure she knew his hitting on her mom meant nothing beyond trying to save the fabric of space and time, and not because she was young and… he had to admit… reasonably attractive.

Strangely enough, that admittance didn't do anything for him. For Jeff, the entire conversation had almost been 'clinical' for lack of a better word. Yeah, Annie's mom was a looker, but when Jeff looked at her, he couldn't help but see Annie's eyes and nose. Or the fact that they had the same hair; which all bothered him more than he wanted to admit. So he just threw on the charm and charisma and used some of his patented foolproof lines and he had her well on the path to eating out of the palm of his hand.

Then Annie had to storm off to the nearest bathroom and hurl. At least that was what they all assumed. Her mom followed right behind her to see if she was okay. When she came out of the restroom, she refused to say why Annie stayed behind, simply stating that a lady didn't talk about such things.

When a few more minutes passed by and Annie still didn't come out Jeff started tapping his foot and fiddling with his phone inside his coat pocket. He questioned Annie's dad again on what happened to her then resumed glaring at the door. Even after no one went in the bathroom for a few minutes and only Annie could be left, Annie's mom wouldn't let him in to check on her. Finally Jeff just nodded and said…

"Hey, is that young up and coming actor Robert Downey Jr?"

Instantly the small group around him swiveled their heads. Troy bleated out 'Iron Man' while Annie's dad mentioned 'Weird Science'. Jeff took the opportunity to take a single step backward and slip into the restroom. All the while mentally patting himself on the back for being as clever as he was handsome. However, no sooner did he turn around than he saw Annie just about to finish crawling out the window.

"Annie!"

"Jeff!" she squeaked and fell the rest of the way out.

Jeff charged and threw himself at the window; maybe trying to catch Annie, or maybe just to see which way she would run. All he knew was that in the next few seconds he was huffing and puffing to squeeze his body through the window almost too small for _Annie_ to fit through.

All the while Annie just glared up at him from the shrubbery she'd fallen into below. She rolled over once he finally toppled out and flopped on the ground in a heap of arms and legs and like a newborn calf being birthed. Jeff took a moment just lie there wondering if he literally had a stick up his butt, or if he was just beginning to go crazy.

"You remember when crawling out of a girls bathroom window didn't used to be normal?" he finally said, Annie just nodded. "I miss those days."

"I've gotten better at it," Annie said quietly. "I've learned to tuck and roll."

Jeff sat up and did his best not to groan. By now their little group and Annie's parents were either arguing over whether or not Robert Downey Jr. had a future career or they were searching the bathroom for Annie and himself. The last thing he wanted now was for them to overhear him in the bushes.

"Annie," he looked over at her. "Whatever's going on, throwing yourself out a window isn't the answer. This is the 80's there aren't anti-bullying campaigns out there to pander to people that do weird things."

"I'm surprised you even noticed," Annie said. "I figured you'd be too busy putting the moves on my mom."

"Okay," Jeff sighed. "Annie, you know I'm not hitting on your mom because I actually want to get with her right?"

"I know Jeff!"

"And I told you that before I even started. I'm just trying to save the future."

"I know!"

"And you're the one that came to the realization last time that we have to let past events play out the way they happened so we don't change the future."

"Well maybe that's what I want!" Annie suddenly slapped her hands on her knees and her lips pulled into a grimace. Jeff shifted a little bit to the side, slightly closer to her. Annie sucked in deep breath in an attempt to keep from crying.

"Annie…"

"I'm sorry Jeff! I really am," her voice shook. "But you have no idea how weird this is for me. Those are my parents out there. And all I can remember of them growing up is seeing them fighting over Menorah's and Nativity scenes! Or shouting over whether I should go to prep school or Riverside High. And yet there they are! Cuddling and cooing and acting like nothing in the world matters more each other!"

Annie took in another breath and Jeff reached over to take her hand. She didn't respond at all but rather kept going.

"And you want to know what the worst part is? When they finally divorced all I could do was sit in my room and hear my mom shout at him over the phone about visitation rights, and I couldn't help but think the entire divorce was my fault. And when I see my parents _that_ happy, the little girl still inside of me is thinking the same thing. So yeah, Jeff, maybe I don't want to have all of us roll up our sleeves and split my parents up! Because they look happier than I've ever seen them and maybe that would mean they would finally be happy with me!"

The two of them sat there for a minute or so, with Annie's rant hanging in the air above them. Jeff didn't try to speak and Annie just cupped her head in one hand and squeezed his tightly with her other. Somewhere, off in the distance, Jeff thought he heard Troy shouting something about _Soapdish_ but he quickly dismissed it and focused on Annie.

"You know," he spoke slowly, staring straight forward, not looking at her. "It took me years to finally convince myself that my dad was the scumbag that he is and that it wasn't my fault that he left."

"Really?" he caught Annie turning to him from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Actually it wasn't until after high school when I finally realized how unquestionably awesome I am, that I realized that I had nothing to do with my parents decisions. I was awesome because I was me and my dad left because of who he was."

He finally turned and faced her, letting a smile cross his lips. "Annie, you're awesome because of you. And like my dad, your parents are responsible for their own lives and them not getting to see you be the amazing person you are is their loss."

The loudspeaker sounded off with the 1985 dean giving a few announcements, but Jeff didn't pay attention. He just kept his gaze locked on Annie as her mouth quivered into a smile and she pressed her fingers against his. He matched her smile and bumped his arm against hers.

"That still doesn't change that this whole thing is gross," Annie said, releasing his hand and wiping her eyes. "And don't tell me it isn't. You'd beat Troy up if he ever hit on your mom."

"Please," Jeff said. "Troy couldn't handle my mom. She'd break him."

Annie laughed and pulled herself up, offering a hand to Jeff. He took it and groaned a little as he stood. He took a second to brush his clothes off and inspect the damage. A few splotches of dirt, some wrinkles and… a tear. Damn. And here, in the back of his mind, he hoped he'd inspire someone in this backwards decade into inventing modern fashion.

"So I probably should have asked," Jeff said as they stepped away from the shrubbery. "Are you okay with this plan? It's the best I can think of right now but if you don't like it…"

"It's… it's find Jeff," Annie looked around, realizing they were on the quad. The trees were smaller but there was no mistaking. "Just promise me you won't make out with her."

"Fair enough," Jeff shrugged. "She's not my type anyway. She's almost old enough to be my mother."

Annie shook her head and fell into step alongside him. He had let her hand go the moment he brushed himself off but he found himself considering taking it, just to reassure her and until they met back up with the group. Sadly enough, that moment was the calmest, most peaceful one they'd experienced since landing in 1985. Jeff realized that might have been why he took unusually slow steps toward the door.

"So I definitely vote we make sure to go to Relaxus Prime after this is all over. I've earned it," Annie said.

"You won't get an argument from me," Jeff shrugged.

Annie paused and Jeff took a couple of steps before stopping himself. He glanced around to see what she was looking at. She didn't look surprised, or terrified, or worried. So what was she doing?

"Annie?"

"You know we never stop do we?"

"Stop what?"

"Every time we've taken a trip in that stupid time desk we wind up running from something, or tip toeing around something or… well, more running. We never just stop and enjoy the fact that we've traveled in time."

Jeff let a half smile cross his face. "If you want to enjoy 1985, be my guest. I've already been there, done that."

"Oh that's right!" a bit of excitement finally crept back to Annie's features. "You're going to be… eight years old today! Happy Birthday Jeff!"

"I guess," he shrugged. "The point is, this decade isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sure we beat the Soviets and Wendy's started their 'where's the beef' campaign but a lot of it really sucked."

"Well I would like to judge that for myself," Annie latched onto his arm and her smile grew. "And when all of this is over you're going to show me around. Deal?"

"Sure," Jeff smiled back.

And as surely as Leonard inevitably showed up to ruin a day by being inexplicably awesomer than people a third his age, the small moment Jeff and Annie shared came to a crashing halt when her parents, Troy and Abed all came rushing into the quad. Troy started shouting their names and Jeff fumbled his arm away from Annie's.

"There you are!" Troy ran straight at them. "We tried calling you but all my phone would get is busy signal. I forgot what they even sounded like!"

"What's going on?" Annie asked.

"It's that old creep," her mom said. "While we were arguing about whether or not Robert Downey Jr even had enough movies under his belt to be considered a star he faked a heart attack. While these guys were trying to stop us from calling an ambulance he ran off."

"Ran off?!" Jeff said. "Where?"

"There's no telling!" Abed said. "He can't have gone to the Desk, it's locked and would let me know if he tired to get in. He must have gone somewhere in Greendale."

Jeff pursed his lips and squeezed his hands together. If it wasn't one thing it was another. Especially where Pierce was concerned. He took a steadying breath and made a decision as he exhaled.

"Okay, Troy, Abed, you guys stay here with Leah and David. Search Greendale from top to bottom. Also I want you guys to keep going with the plan we talked about earlier. You know… the one I was working on."

"What about you two?" Troy said.

"Annie and I will look outside Greendale. Maybe he went to watch a movie or something. We'll get a cab and start looking at all the usual places, strip joints, seedy bars, expensive bars… Dunkin Donuts dumpsters."

"Got it," Abed said. "We should meet back up here at a certain time as our phones won't work right now."

"Okay, let's say… meet in the study room in… a couple of hours?" Jeff said.

"Alright," Abed nodded. "Let's synchronize our watches."

Annie's parent's held up their wristwatches and started holding down buttons. Jeff and Abed did as well, while Annie and Troy began setting the alarms on their phones.

"Jeff maybe you should use your blackberry," Troy said without looking up from his phone. "I've heard they have amazing timing apps, like ones that sound like Darth Vader when your time is up!"

"So are you guys part of some weird… Star Trek club?" Annie's dad said. "You keep playing with those things like they're actual phones."

Troy and Annie looked up from their mobile devices and Troy cracked a grin. "Oh… well… I mean… we sure do like some Trek! Am I right? Beam me up Mr. Worf! Very well Chief Engineer Geordie LaForge played by the legendary LeVar Burton! One to beam up!"

Abed sidled up close to Troy "_Star Trek: The Next Generation_ doesn't come out for three years."

"Don't mind him," Annie jumped in, grinning at her parents. "He just likes to pretend that there was more… ethnic diversity in Star Trek."

"So he chose to put Kunta Kinte in it?" Annie's mom raised a brow.

"Alright," Jeff said. "Two hours, we'll meet back here. And if you find Pierce please feel free to use whatever force necessary to restrain him."

Annie's dad looked perplexed. "I'm sure it won't come to tha—"

"Any force necessary," Jeff repeated then grabbed Annie's arm and started leading her away. "Two hours!"

"Don't worry," Abed smiled. "We'll be there in…"

"Abed I swear that if you make an Inspector Spacetime joke right now I will swear I'll give you an atomic wedgie, and don't think that I won't, because it's 1985 and that sort of thing is not only okay, it's encouraged."

"time," Abed said.

* * *

"And Space," Abed said as soon as they left. Troy grinned and gave him a high five.

"Awesome work buddy," he grinned. Then he turned along with Abed and faced Annie's parents. Suddenly the entire reality of what was going on came right back to him. All the high fives in the world wouldn't fix this problem. And on top of finding Pierce they needed to break Annie's parents up!

"So what's the plan?" Annie's dad said to them.

"The plan?" Troy said. "Oh well… you see… the plan… we've totally got one. It has layers upon layers and just when you think it's getting unplanned you find out like… that it was all part of that plan from the beginning. It's like Ince… I mean it's like… Ocean's Elev…"

"Ocean's Eleven," Abed finished the sentence. "The 1960's movie starring the Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin…"

"…And Sammy Davis Jr. You don't need to list the 'pack' to me," Annie's mom said. "So we get it. What's the plan?"

"I thought Will Ferrell was part of the pack," Troy whispered to Abed.

"We're going to split up," Abed said. "I'll go with David and my friend, Ted will go with Leah. We'll meet back here in an hour."

Annie's parents nodded and Troy held up a hand to excuse himself and Abed for just a moment. Once they were out of earshot Troy took a glance back at them and then turned to Abed.

"Just got a couple of questions," he said. "Which one of us is Ted?"

"Do I really look like Keannu Reeves?"

"You can…" Troy raised a brow then shook his head. "Okay, next question, why are we splitting up anyway?"

"We'll cover more ground this way, plus it gives us the perfect opportunity to work on Annie's parents. I'll start sowing the seeds of doubt in her dad and you use your gift for attracting the wrong kind of girl in order to convince Annie's mom to dump him."

"Wrong kind of girl? What are you talking about?"

"Your high school girlfriend, Moriah, Randy…"

"Abed!" Troy said through gritted teeth. "You said you'd never bring it up again. It's not my fault she actually turned out to be a dude!"

"The point is, Annie was wildly attracted to you in high school, chances are you'll be able to turn her mom's head as well."

"Okay," Troy nodded. "And you're sure she's not a dude either?"

"Pretty sure," Abed said.

"Got it. Break!"

The two did their shake and went back to Annie's parents. After a brief talk to coordinate their efforts they split, with David and Abed covering North and East Hall and Troy and Leah tackling the English Memorial Spanish Center and the British English Centered English Study Center. Of course David and Leah couldn't leave each other without exchanging a two minute long kiss session complete with cuddles and parting ways by walking apart from each other with their hands touching and outstretched until the last second.

Troy swallowed once they were all separated. The quad was mostly empty at this point; leaving him mostly alone with Annie's mom. He fought his natural inclination to stare at her boobs and think about how hot she was. Instead, he kept reminding himself of the time he went trick or treating at her house and she turned the garden hose on him.

In her defense it was only last year and she had no idea who he was due to the awesome Optimus Prime costume he and Abed were wearing together.

Still, it reminded Troy that this was a bitter, hateful woman that made Annie's life hell. And he could only force himself to hit on her as a means to fix the future. He'd learned his lesson on their first time travel adventure. With both Pierce and Britta almost forcing him to destroy the universe.

"So," Annie's mom said. "You're Ted, right?"

"Yeah," Troy straightened his shouldered and reminded himself to talk and walk cool. "But lot's of people just call me T-bone. Or Troy for short. You know how it is."

"I… guess?" she said and an awkward air hung between them. "Should we get looking? We could probably check in with the teachers nearby and maybe even the dean. They might have seen Fletch."

"Probably, maybe even _Fletch Lives_," Troy said absentmindedly.

Annie's mom pursed her lips and made a nervous 'hmm' sound and Troy gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus. It was times like this that he really regretted not taking the film studies class Abed wanted him to. Then he'd be able to remember what year movies came out in. And the fabric of reality wouldn't rely on him knowing when _St. Elmo's Fire_ came out.

They made for the Spanish center, all the while Troy let his eyes drift over her so he could pick out what exactly he could compliment her on. It couldn't be her booty or her chest. That would get him slapped. Her hair maybe? Britta didn't like it when he said he liked her curls better than her straight hair… though he did notice she'd recently gone back to them. Man did he like those curls. So soft and squiggly and her hair smelled like apricots. Someday they would be married and he would invent a prosthetic eyeball for her one eyed cat. Or a visor like LeVar had in TNG…

"…Ted? Ted? T-Bone! Are you listening to me!?"

Troy's eyes widened when he realized he'd drifted off and missed whatever it was she was talking about. Quickly he blurted out the first compliment he could think of. "Your hair smells like a one eyed cat!"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry," Troy shook his head. "Sorry, I was thinking about someone else. What were you saying?"

"I was asking why on earth do they have a trampoline here in the middle of the quad?"

Annie's mom pointed straight ahead and Troy had to ask himself how he could have possibly missed it. Right there, next to a booth set up for the Greendale Roller Skating club and where the Luis Guzman statue would eventually stand, sat a trampoline, as glorious and bouncy as he'd ever seen. A couple of students lounged on top of it talking harmoniously.

"I seriously don't get this place. I would expect more from a college. Even a community college," Annie's mom sighed.

"I thought trampoline's were banned," Troy muttered, his eyes fixed on the glorious devise.

"Why would a trampoline be banned?" Annie's mom shrugged. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Troy barely heard her. Instead he brushed past her with one hand outstretched toward the shining rim of the trampoline. A rush of tranquility surged from the cool metal to his fingers and straight into his heart as soon as he touched it. Suddenly he knew exactly how to convince Annie's mom of what she needed to do.

"Leah," he smiled at her. "Have you ever gotten on one of these things?"

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes. "I thought we were looking for your friend."

"We will," Troy said. "But first you need to take just a few minutes on the trampoline. I promise you won't regret it."

"Um…"

"Come on," Troy nodded toward it. "Just give it a shot."

"Okay," she finally shrugged and approached the trampoline.

The couple of students that lay on it rolled off and let her have her space. Annie's mom climbed on and gave a few cursory bounces before stopping and heading back toward the rim. Troy ran up in front of her and held out his hands.

"Whoah, easy there," he said. "You've barely started."

"Ted, this is stupid," she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Just give it a few more tries," he said, she sighed and went back to the center of the trampoline and began jumping. "That's it… just jump a little higher, and when you come down, let all of your cares stay at the bottom of the trampoline with you… see what I mean? Keep your legs a shoulder width apart… Let your troubles sink to the bottom as you bounce up and leave them behind. Alright!"

"This… this is…" Annie's mom's voice grew airy and serene. "This is nice…"

"That's what's so magical about trampolines," Troy said. "You can leave all of your troubles behind and just bounce."

"That's deep," one of the students that had previously been on the trampoline said, coming up to stand next to Troy.

"I guess," Troy shrugged. "It's what just comes naturally when you're on a trampoline."

"I'll bet you're especially good at it," the guy said.

"I'm not bad," Troy glanced toward him and smiled. The guy seemed nice. Like the kind of guy Troy wouldn't mind being friends with, spiky blonde hair and all..

"Ted, this is so wonderful!" Annie's mom said.

"That's cause in every at the apex at every bounce there is a moment, outside of time, outside of words, outside of everything, a perfect moment, a silent moment…"

"Yeah," Annie's mom and the student next to him breathed in unison.

"And now just think about your life, you'll find clarity. You'll be able to see clearly your relationships."

"I can…" Annie's mom said with her eyes closed now. "…My mom is a whore."

"Okay…" Troy raised a brow. "Keep going. Any _other_ people you have relationships with that you think are whores?"

"D… david…"

"Yes," Troy nodded.

"I can't stand him…"

"Yes," Troy grinned. "What you're hearing is the 'world's whisper'. It's speaking to you and telling you what's really in your heart."

"I want a daughter…" Annie's mom smiled.

"The World's Whisper," the student beside Troy said. "Did you make that up?"

"No," Troy said. "A guy I met once taught it to me."

"Well he must be a great guy," the student said. "He probably had a good, solid, white, name."

"Yeah… what?!"

Troy turned and looked at the student closely. A shiver ran up the back of his spine. It couldn't be. No… it was impossible. Troy held up his index finger, curled slightly down and placed it just below the student's nose, mimicking a mustache. He tried to stop the terrified gasp from escaping his throat but it was no use.

"Please stop touching my face," the student said. "You'll get it dirty."

"_Joshua_!" Troy squeaked


	5. Chapter 5

Under certain circumstances, hell, most circumstances, Annie wouldn't have had the slightest problem having her face resting on Jeff Winger's chest. His rock hard abs and sculpted pecs were her not so secret guilty pleasure after all. But as the cab jerked to the left again, and Jeff's chest smashed her against the upholstery. She found herself not enjoying it so much.

That being the case, she planted her hands on Jeff's shoulder and gave it a hard shove. Jeff climbed off of her and latched onto the small handle above the window. Then he tapped the glass barrier in front of them, but the cabbie ignored it. Jeff looked ready to tap again when the cab lurched hard left. This time the handle snapped right off and Jeff smashed Annie hard enough that her head ticked against the window.

"Will you please put your seatbelt on?!" Annie shoved him off.

"Believe me Annie, I'd love to," Jeff said. "But this is a thousand dollar jacket I'm wearing. And in 80's dollars that's pretty close to a million. Putting on a seatbelt of some seedy cab might give it a crease that would-"

The cab's breaks screeched and Jeff flung straight forward. Annie tried not to wince at the sound of his forehead smacking the glass, but she made up for it by letting a small laugh out as Jeff pulled away rubbing his head gingerly. He fired a 'hmm' her direction before the cabbie popped open a small window and announced their fare.

Annie smirked at his karmic pain as the cab pulled away and he joined her side. He busied himself with his phone for a moment before tucking it in his pocket and staring, along with herself, at he massive building in front of them.

"Hawthorne Tower," Annie said. "Not quite a strip club."

"Wouldn't surprise me one bit if there was one inside though," Jeff shrugged. "You remember that time we all dressed up in fancy hats cause the dean was having a 'Day at the Races' fair in honor of Race Relations week?"

"You mean those hats that Pierce bought for all of us because you said 'oh we should all wear fancy hats and tiny binoculars'. You mean _those_ hats?"

"The very same," Jeff said. "I was being ironic."

"Duh doy, what's this about Jeff?"

"Well Pierce doesn't do ironic. All this time we've been saying he's going to pull a Biff Tannen on us like it was a joke. Because that would be ironic. But I would bet Molly Ringwald's sixteenth candle that that is exactly what Pierce is doing right now because it's literally the most literal thing he could do."

"My god," Annie whispered. "You mean he's in that building right now looking for a younger more racially insensitive version of himself?""

"Yeah, I shudder to think of it too," Jeff nodded.

"So," Annie glanced up at him. "What's the plan?"

"The plan is…" Jeff tapped his foot. "Um… find Pierce?"

Annie rolled her eyes and started toward the front entrance. Jeff quickly matched pace beside her.

"So now you have a plan?"

"I'll work one out by the time we get in the lobby," Annie fired a side glance at him. "Besides, your last plan involved you seducing my mom so it's not like the bar has been set really high."

"Ouch."

Annie sighed. "I'm sorry. It's one of those days, and being out of the loop with Troy and Abed isn't helping. For all I know, Abed is pretending to be Patrick Swayze and _Dirty Dancing_ with my mom right now."

"Don't worry, he couldn't be," Jeff said. "That movie doesn't come out for a few more years."

"Jeff, the point is that we left the fate of my future with Inspector Spacetime and Constable Reggie! I just wish I could be there to make sure they don't do anything too crazy."

"Well you have to deal with it," Jeff shrugged. "You can't be here and there at the same time."

"I know that Jeff but I just wish…" Annie tailed off and stopped in her tracks. Something he said clicked in her brain and just like that it came to her. Jeff, also halting his step didn't have time to jump when she squealed and punched him in the arm. "That's it! Jeff, that's it!"

"What?" Jeff took a step back, ensuring he was out of the range of her fists. "I fixed time by just being awesome?"

"No," Annie barely bothered to roll her eyes. "We have a time machine. I _can_ be in two places at once. Or even the same place a month ago!"

"Um…" Jeff managed as Annie picked up her pace. "Isn't there something that Abed would say about time streams and not meeting yourself or something?"

"Don't worry Jeff," Annie spun around and grabbed his arm. They were just about inside. "Just stick with me and play along."

Annie couldn't help the smile she had on her face as he stared at her and slowly the doubt in his eyes faded away. "Alright, lead the way."

Jeff grabbed he door and swung it open for both of them. Annie's grin widened and she had to hold in her explanation at her idea. All she could do was wait… and stare at the incredibly creepy lobby of Hawthorne wipes. It was like some sort of 1980's aesthetic nightmare; neon lights, smooth, white plastic edges on everything, Andy Warhol paintings hung unironically and a massive mural of a young Cornelius Hawthorne using his wipes to clean the 'black' off of an African American.

"I really hope Pierce changed this in the late 90's," Jeff muttered.

"We just have to focus," Annie took a breath and approached the receptionist.

"May I help you?" the lady said, or at least Annie assumed she was a lady. It was hard to tell underneath the massive perm, the wide shoulder pads and the pounds of make up.

"Yes we're Mr. Pierce Hawthorne's four o'clock," Annie said in her most business like voice.

"Let me see…" The secretary traced a massive glue-on fingernail down the registry. "Ah, here we are. Doctor Meredith Grey and Doctor Gregory House. Your appointments are confirmed. I just need to see some id and Mr. Hawthorne will be waiting for you two."

Annie took a breath; this was do or die time. So far so good. She reached into Jeff's coat pocket and removed two name badges complete with photo id of the two of them. She forced herself not to cheer or squeal in triumph, she could hardly believe it worked. She would have so much to tell Abed next time she saw him.

The secretary looked at the badges then nodded toward the elevator. "Mr. Hawthorne's office is in suite b on floor fifteen."

With a polite nod to the receptionist, Annie started toward the elevators, pausing only slightly to beckon a stupefied Jeff to follow her. His face remained locked with his mouth hanging open and his brows making perfect, surprised slashes across his forehead. Annie just shook her head.

"Come on Dr. House," She said. "We don't want to keep Mr. Hawthorne waiting."

Jeff took a moment but finally his feet kicked into gear and he lurched over to her. By the time he reached her, one of the elevator doors slid open and she stepped in, waiting for him to follow. Once inside he tapped his foot as she found the appropriate button and the door closed.

"Okay, what the hell Annie!?" he said "How did you do that? Where did you get these id's and how did they get in my pocket?"

"I went back in time and set up the appointment and slipped the id's in your coat pocket this morning before you woke up!" Annie almost jumped in excitement. "Take that Inspector Spacetime!"

"What do you mean you went and did those things?" Jeff said. "You've been here the entire time."

"You're right," Annie said. "But because we have a time machine I can be anywhere or when I want. So after we find Pierce and fix the deal with my parents, we're going to use the Time Desk to go back in time a month and set up this appointment and then go to your apartment while you're sleeping and slip the id's in your pocket. Easy right?"

Jeff just shook his head and scrunched his brows in frustration. "I… I have no idea Annie, you can't just say you're going to do something with the Time Desk in the past and expect it to happen! What about all of those time rules Abed is quoting to us? What about the fact that apparently you're going to sneak into my room and put these badges in my pocket. And… and really? House? That's the best you could come up with for me?"

"Look on the bright side Jeff," Annie couldn't help herself. "I could have made you Dr. J.D."

"I guess," Jeff said in a monotone.

"And don't you get what this means? It means everything is going to be okay! Because if I'm able to use the Time Desk, in the future to alter past events, that means we manage to fix everything!"

"I guess," Jeff repeated, still giving her an incredulous look. "Annie… this whole thing still makes me cross-eyed but I can't really deny the fact that at least this part of your plan worked."

Annie felt herself standing up, just a bit on taller, feeling like she could single handedly fly to Berlin and knock over that wall with just her bare hands. In just a short amount of time she would have this entire mess sorted out and then she would be sipping space margaritas at Relaxus Prime.

"Just promise me one thing," Jeff said, glancing away from the elevator buttons indicating they were nearing their destination. "Promise me you won't pull a Hermione Granger and use the Time Desk to take multiple classes at once."

In spite of his admonition, Annie felt her eyes widen when the possibilities of doing exactly what he said lit up in her brain. It would be so many many million times better than priority registration. All the classes she had to resign herself to not taking were suddenly a very real possibility. How could she not have thought of this before?

Jeff shook his head at her and started saying something but she couldn't hear him. At first she thought it was due to her excitement at his suggestion but then she couldn't hear him even though she tried.

Panic started welling up from her chest when it hit her; a sudden light-headedness and dizziness swept over her. Her vision swam and she reached out to a nearby railing to steady herself. Somehow or another her hand missed entirely and she hit the floor gasping for breath. She scrunched her eyes, trying to draw in enough air as she thought she heard Jeff's voice from far away.

His voice came again, this time as though muffled by a pillow. She opened her eyes and blurrily saw his face in front of hers. His voice grew clearer and her vision sharpened. She could feel his hand behind her neck as he called out her name.

"Annie, are you okay!? Annie?"

"Wha… what happened?" she managed to croak out.

"Oh god Annie, you scared me."

"What happened?"

"You tell me," Jeff helped her sit up a bit. "One minute I was about to tell you to stop thinking about abusing time for academic achievement and the next you… you passed out or something."

Annie took a deep breath. Her head stopped spinning and pulse slowed down again. Whatever had happened to her seemed to have passed. She reached up and brought herself to her feet with the assistance of the handrail. The entire time, Jeff kept gripping her arm.

"Sure," Annie stared at the rail. "_Now_ I can grab it."

"Annie," Jeff said. "That's the other thing… I don't know if my eyes were playing tricks on me or what, but it looked like your hand went right though the rail when you fell over. Like it wasn't there or something."

In spite of herself, Annie shivered. She pulled her eyes off of Jeff and held her hand up in front of her face. Carefully she bent every finger then repeated the process more quickly. Nothing seemed different, but if there was anything she had learned in not only her bizarre time travel adventures, but also Greendale itself, nothing was impossible.

"Okay Annie," Jeff said. "I think once we get to our stop we should just hit the ground floor button and get back to Greendale."

"I'm fine Jeff, really," Annie shook her head. "We just need to stick to the plan."

"Annie…"

"Jeff…"

"You just went through some… hell I don't even know what. Something! We can't just ignore that."

Annie eyed the control panel, the button's blinked closer to their floor. Jeff stood right next to it, his hand no doubt, ready to hit the first floor. The elevator beeped, only one floor away from their destination.

"Can we not do this?" She said. "I know you think it's your job to protect me but in this moment, right now, we have more important things to worry about. Like stopping Pierce."

The door chimed, they'd arrived. In spite of everything that she had just said Annie could see him reaching for the button. And he likely would have too, if the doors hadn't split open and they were greeted by the sight of not one, but two Pierce's waiting for the elevator. The Pierce they knew, and the much younger Pierce of 1985. For what seemed a long moment, the four of them stared at each other. And Annie couldn't help but notice that younger Pierce… not that bad on the eyes.

This realization dashed away when their Pierce yelled "Scram!" and the two Pierce's ran opposite directions of each other. Annie and Jeff exchanged a quick look before they split up. Annie tore off after their Pierce with Jeff going after the younger one. Her heart pounded with the realization that they might already be too late.

* * *

In his many different trips with the Time Desk, Abed had seen a great deal of things. He saw the pyramids being built. He helped Bing Crosby find the road to Morocco, and even sat in a live taping of _M*A*S*H_. And in spite of how euphoric that last one was, it paled in comparison to his current experience.

Greendale. 1985.

How could things possibly get better? Leg warmers? Check. Friendship Bracelets? Check. Random groups of teenagers playing Simon? Checkaroonie! If only someone could walk by wearing a Members Only jacket and a pornstache without even a hint of irony, Abed might just die in bygone pop culture heaven.

Pretty much only one thing kept him from running and finding the thickest pair of raybans he could and leading a parade to the tune of "Twist and Shout." Was the fact that, that would mean ditching Annie's dad and his promise to convince the young man to break up with Annie's mom.

David Edison kept going on about how pretty she was and how much she looked like Phoebe Cates or Brooke Shields. And that's how Abed knew the guy was ridiculously in love because, in reality, Abed got a Megan Mullally or a Molly Shannon vibe from Annie's mom.

She had this guy whipped… or 'gone' as they said in the 80's.

With each step, Abed calculated various scenarios to change his mind. But he couldn't work out a way to make a montage of bad thing's Annie's mom had done, and he didn't really think he had the legs to wear something skimpy to demonstrate to him that Abed was a better option. Also he didn't really want to be an option.

"So Abed," David said. "That's muslim isn't it? Love what you guys are doing in Afghanistan. Way to not take the Soviets on."

"Of course," Abed nodded. "Though that might not turn out so well in the end…"

"What?"

"Never mind, so David..."

"We seriously can't find that guy you were with… Fletch right?"

"He's more a Griswald," Abed said. "But at any rate I think we should check the gym, he might be trying to drill a hole in the wall so he can pull a Porky's."

"How did you even get set up with that guy?" David said. "He seems like a complete yuppie. Well I'll be honest with you man. All of you are kinda dressed… yuppish.?"

"Don't go telling Beckham that," Abed said. "He's got a bigger ego than Ferris Bueller."

"Who?"

"Oh right, 1985…" Abed nodded. "Bigger ego than Bill Murray in Stripes."

"Okay," David said as they passed the quad. "So does this happen often? Your grandpa goes and makes passes at teenagers like a butthead?"

"That's not the half of it. Pierce sometimes gives Mel Gibson a run for his money in the crazy and racist department, but in spite of that he actually means well… usually."

"Mel Gibson's awesome what are you talking about?"

"Oh… right," Abed froze in step, just as they entered the quad. He could tell by the way David kept giving him side long glances. He was losing it. Part of the problem could easily be attributed to nearly half the references Abed used to relate to his target hadn't happened yet. Abed was used to having two whole decades of movies to draw on. 1985 limited him to only half a decade. If he didn't think of something quick David would cut and run.

"So you and Leah…"

"Leah, that girl is something. Sometimes I love her sometimes she drives me crazy. I mean, it's kind of cool that she is having us look for Fletch and all even after what he did. I just can never seem to get things right. She wants me to be tough and protective, but I'm more of a lover and not a fighter. Know what I mean?"

Abed had spent enough time with people to at least recognize this one social cue. He nodded. Maybe he could teach David to be tough by doing a workout montage to "You're the best." No, wait. No that's what he wanted, Abed needed to teach David to be more sensitive to drive Leah away. A sliver of panic crept up his spine. How was he going to teach emotions? That was like Data trying to teach Spock how to love kittens!

Of course Abed didn't get the chance to do anything. Both he and David found themselves unable to move when Troy flew by, being chased by a group of students. Off by a trampoline, Annie's mom stood and swooned. David, took no time in running to her.

"What the hell is going on?" he said. "Why are those guys chasing Bill?"

"Because he's black," Leah answered. "And he stood up to them. Their leader Joshua said he made the trampoline dirty and tried to throw me off for being his friend. He saved me."

Abed's eyes widened when he notices Troy had stopped running. Instead he had taken a pair of skates from the nearby skate club booth and used them to cobble together a crude pair of inline skates. Students massed around wanting skates just like that, all the while Troy made his getaway from Joshua and his gang.

"Isn't he an absolute dream?" Leah said.

"I guess," David narrowed his eyes at Troy. "I mean he's no Michael Jackson..."

"Yes but he tried to defend my honor. You could learn a thing or two from him Dave."

"Ugh, really? Are we doing this again? Just because I don't want to push people around doesn't mean I don't want to defend you."

"You were doing just fine earlier today."

"And I hated it. Leah, that's not me!"

Abed cocked a brow. Maybe he didn't have to do anything. Maybe he could just let it play out while he watched Troy maneuver his chasers closer and closer to a nearby fertilizer truck brought in by the groundskeepers. A certain film score replayed in his mind while Annie's parents descended further and further into what might become a slap fight.

"You know David I was jumping on that trampoline and it made me realize that you really are a spineless worm sometimes!"

"Jumping on the trampoline? Are you high Leah? How does that make you think that? Oh wait, I forgot, your parents voted for Jimmy Carter, that explains everything."

"My parents politics aren't on trial here! We're talking about how you are too much of a girl to protect me or our daughter!"

"Daughter? What the hell!? We don't have a daughter! You won't even let me get to Second!"

"Well sorry if I don't just spread them for anyone that asks like your mother!"

"Oh how did I know you would go there!? It's never enough for you isn't it? I act tough around David Beckham and you don't care, I actually defend you against Fletch and you organize a posse to search for him! What will impress you Leah!? I'm sick of this!"

"And I'm sick of you! We're done David!"

Abed nodded. The break up happened just as Troy swerved to avoid the fertilizer and his pursuers didn't manage to be as spry. They tumbled face first into it. Abed ran up to his best friend, who was returning the newly constructed roller blades to its owners.

"That was amazing," Abed grinned. "You actually re-enacted the entire skateboard chase from Back to the Future!"

"I did?" Troy glanced back at the group of students coughing up fertilizer. "Well… cool. We need to get back to Leah, I think I was about to make a breakthrough with her."

"No need," Abed nodded toward the trampoline. Annie's parents were now screaming at each other at the top of their lungs and flailing their hands about wildly. "It looks like Pierce running off was all that they actually needed."

"Awesome!" Troy said and the two did their handshake. "You know what this means? We have time to go… watch… that 80's show…"

"The Breakfast Club? Rocky IV? Goonies? There's so many to choose from this year!"

"Might as well watch them all," Troy shrugged. "I just hope we have enough money. 80's dollars are worth more than ours."

Abed just nodded and fished into his pocket for the photo they were using to know the future. They probably didn't even need it anymore now that they accomplished their mission. He'd put it in the Time Desk as a trophy.

Except he almost dropped it once he got a good look at it.

Instead of a shiny picture of the entire study group smiling for Jeff's party, he was met with the sight of Annie almost completely faded from the picture and Britta going as well. Without taking his eyes off the picture he reached out and groped around until he finally got Troy's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Troy said once he saw the picture. "I thought we were supposed to break them up to fix things!"

Abed peered out to where David and Leah were stomping away from each other, both red faced and flustered. The possibilities calculated through his brain, searching every episode of Inspector Spacetime to Quantum Leap or any time travel media that he could think of to explain it. And then with an internal 'ding' he figured it out.

"We did our jobs too well," Abed said. "We tried to fix things by breaking them up so they would later get back together at the right time to conceive Annie and get married, but we made them break up so hard that they never get back together, thus Annie is never born and the Study Group changes or falls apart with her missing."

"But… but…" Troy's voice cracked as he sniffed. "Why does this always happen? Why does time always have to be so wibbly wobbly? Why can't it just stay not broken!?"

"It's less entertaining that way," Abed said.

"So what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do," Abed replied. "We have to get them back together… but only just enough that they can break up as just friends."

"Oh boy."


	6. Chapter 6

The camera flashed and Jeff just glared at it and then grumbled at himself for even wondering if they got his good side. It was a mugshot; he shouldn't care if he looked good. Then he realized it was a mugshot taken in the 80's so by that measuring stick, he looked amazing! At least he had that small victory.

Now he just had to figure out how to survive the night in an 80's county jail.

An officer escorted him away from the photo area just as they brought in the whole reason he wound up arrested to begin with. Jeff just gritted his teeth at Pierce. Somehow, in the back of his mind he'd always wondered if he'd have liked Pierce better if he was just younger and less riddled with dementia. Now he had his answer and he could hate Pierce with impunity now.

The officer guided young Pierce in front of the camera and Jeff noted the deep red splotches circling his eyes, marring his otherwise surprisingly good looking features. If they had been contemporaries Jeff might have tagged young Pierce as a potential rival for any ladies in their vicinity.

"The flash is going to be bright so be ready for it Mr. Hawthorne," the officer said before snapping the picture.

"Bite me," Pierce grumbled as the camera went off.

He didn't even blink or flinch, though considering the fact that in his current condition he could barely see, that wasn't terribly surprising. Jeff almost felt bad about that but Pierce was the one that threatened the cop.

"I hope you had extra donuts for breakfast," Pierce said to the officer that came to help him. "Because when my lawyers are done with you, you'll be putting those extra sprinkles on your unemployment check!"

"Please Mr. Hawthorne, there's no need for that," the cop said. "You'll be out as soon as your bail is posted."

"You fuzz are all the same! This is what I protested against when I was a teen!"

Jeff simply sighed as they started leading Pierce his direction. As much as he hated it, Young Pierce was his best option for getting out of here. He had lawyers, and money, and hopefully enough disrespect for authority to let Jeff convince him that there was no reason they should both become the specials of the day in general lock up.

His other option pretty much involved waiting for Annie or Troy and Abed to notice he was missing and for them to come find him. No telling how long that would take. He could be sharing a cell with a young juvenile delinquent StarPeachFuzz by then.

"Alright, come along you two," the cop said, leading Pierce and signaling for Jeff to follow. Jeff took the opportunity to step beside young Pierce. Time to work his old mojo; Pierce was just another wealthy moron that needed some fast talking legal advice. Jeff something Jeff knew all about.

"Stick close with me got it," he said. "We can avoid shankings that way."

"Ha! Right, like I'm going to listen to you! You're that guy Buddha warned me about!"

"Buddha?"

"Don't pretend you didn't see him. He was with me when you and that dynamite piece of tail you were with started chasing us."

Jeff ignored the crude but factually accurate Annie reference and focused on the task at hand. "What… what the hell makes you think he was Buddha?"

"Because when an old, fat, bald, man comes to you in the middle of the day and knows everything about you, and then says that he's Buddha… well you figure it out butthead."

"Oh my god," Jeff shook his head.

"I know!" Pierce said. "I never much believed in this kind of stuff but after that guy knew all about a fateful rendezvous I had with Eartha Kitt on an airplane… well I think I might need to find a religion."

Jeff's mind spun. The fact that Pierce appeared to himself as a false god, that he caused his own conversion to a cult was weird enough. But what made the entire thing even more insane, was the fact that the more he thought on it, the more it actually made sense to him. That's how messed up the time travel thing was at this point.

Regardless as to whether or not Pierce caused himself to find Buddha, the fact still remained that they were both about to be locked up and Annie was still out their chasing down Modern Pierce. Jeff could ponder the destiny bending nature of the trip later, right now he needed to make sure that he got bailed out when Pierce did.

"Look, I know we didn't exactly start out on the right foot, but we're in this together… man…. You an me, in the slammer… dude." Did adults talk like that in the 80's? He had been to busy collecting G1 Transformer toys to know; that and learning firsthand the definition of 'Deadbeat Dad.'

"You sound like one of the many tutors my dad hired for me, to teach me all the things he thought were important," Pierce said.

"And I'll bet that was rough, growing up with a constant stream of tutors, giving you more attention than your own father…"

"Growing up?" Pierce said. "I have another lesson scheduled for tomorrow morning. Hmmm maybe I'll try and stall until then, wait it out in here…"

"Dammit Pierce!" Jeff couldn't stop himself. "Were you seriously always a tool?"

"I'm a tool? Watch it buttface, you're the one that chased me across the city! I can have my lawyers tear you apart for harassment!

"Trust me Pierce," Jeff said. "I can guarantee that no lawyer you'll ever use on me will stand a chance."

They turned the corner and finally came into view of the cells. Jeff unconsciously sidestepped the direction of the exit, only to have a guard grab his arm and point him directly at the cells. This was general lock up, it meant steel bars, it meant long benches across the cells, it meant an open view. That way everybody got a shown when 'Bubba' wanted a new girlfriend.

Jeff could see exactly the type of guy he was worried about in the first cell, the kind of guy that not even he would touch back in his attorney day. The guy had fewer teeth than he did of nights spent alone in a jail cell. Jeff swore that if he ever got out of this he would personally take a sledgehammer to the time desk for putting him in this mess.

But, as it turned out, Jeff needn't have worried about that after all. One of the guards gripped Pierce by the arm and led him to that particular cell, all the while the current inmate leered at Jeff but then practically salivated when he saw Pierce.

So instead of having to share a cell with an over tattooed rapist that bore a striking resemblance to Burt Reynolds, Jeff found himself stepping in front of a cell with something that just very well might have been worse; if he had had the time to think about it, but he all he really had time to do was hang his mouth open stupidly when he laid eyes on his cellmate. It was impossible… even with all of the weirdness of time travel it didn't make sense, and it just wasn't fair!

"Jeff? Jeffery!" the dean called out as the guards pushed Jeff into the cell. The cell doors clanged shut and Jeff felt a pair of scrawny dean arms wrap around his waist. "You found me! Oh thank god you found me!"

It was impossible but it was Dean Pelton. And not a younger version sporting a mullet and dressing like Boy George, but the modern dean; the same dean that had been part of his birthday celebration just that morning. Jeff could actually see his own dumbfounded face reflecting off the dean's bald dome.

"Dean?" Jeff finally pried the diminutive man off of him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Okay, ouch" the dean said.

* * *

To their great surprise, the study room wasn't a study room back in 1985. It seemed to be the location of the Greendale Computer Lab. Both of the computers sat on desks back to back and looked like they might have taken handcarts to bring them in. The black screen with green letters blinked, and the printers shrieked like the damned as they came in.

"This exactly like that time we went to that dinosaur museum in the year 2349," Troy said. "It's like someone cloned all of these old computers by using megabytes caught in amber."

"These are compy 386's," Abed said. "My dad used to use one to do our taxes when I was a kid. It took five days and we had to point every fan we had on them so the house wouldn't catch fire."

"Oh man!" Troy approached one like it might come to life and attack him. "Do you know what we could do with these computers?"

"Less than we can with our smartphones?"

"Yeah, that. And we can hook them up to a power plant and use them to conjure a hot British cyber-genie to fulfill our every wish!"

"Troy, I've been meaning to talk about this with you, it took me years to learn this. No matter how hard we wish it was true, not all 80's movies are documentaries."

"Damn," Troy said as he sat at the computer. "I was going to have her use her sexy powers to magic Annie's Parents back together."

"That would be nice," Abed took the other seat. "Also we could all shower together with our pants on and it wouldn't be as awkward."

"Yeah," Troy nodded and stared into the screen for a moment. "Abed? What are we going to do?"

"We can play the original version of Prince of Persia," Abed said.

"No, I mean about Annie's parents. They broke up too good and I kind of think that Annie's mom has a crush on me now."

"I know," Abed started taping key's absentmindedly. "Ordinarily I would just say we could leave and the Time Desk would compensate and course correct for us, but with the relative temporal regulator damaged, there's no way we could pull that off. The timeline is too fragile as it is."

"What? You mean the time desk could just fix this?"

"Under ordinary circumstances…yes, it probably could," Abed said. "Imagine if time was a river. The time desk allows us to go up or down stream and most the ripples we cause just get absorbed into the regular flow."

"Like a hover boat."

"More like the stealth ship from Tomorrow Never Dies, which surprisingly isn't the worse Pierce Brosnan Bond film," Abed scratched his chin while he thought on it. "At any rate, ordinarily when we make minor changes to the past, the time desk allows the time stream to fold them into the past without much trouble. But with the time desk damaged, even small changes can have huge consequences, like if we were to throw a boulder in the water, the time stream would be forever altered."

"Like… a hover boat and something bad happened!" Troy said.

"So we need to make as few ripples in the time stream as possible so that the time desk doesn't break the very fabric of reality and create paradox babies that eat time!"

"Yeah," Troy nodded and said without a hint of sarcasm. "That doesn't sound made up at all. So we need a plan."

"Almost every sitcom has an episode where the supporting characters attempt to get the romantic leads together," Abed said. "I've always had a few ideas saved up for us to use on different pairings in the study group but then Jeff and Britta preempted me during paintball and Jeff and Annie seemed to actually thrive on unfulfilled sexual tension."

"So could we use those ideas on Annie's parents?"

"We could, but we need to figure out if we want to. Remember, we don't want them together, we want them to like each other just enough that they're willing to give it another go during college."

"What if we used our advanced future technology to convince them that we're aliens and that if they don't forgive each other the universe will implode?"

"I'm pretty sure our cell phones won't quite cut it, and I don't want to expose anybody to time desk level technology unless I have to."

"Damn, just when I thought there was nothing that Draw Something couldn't do…."

The two stared forward at the new but archaic computer screens and each trying to figure out the answer to their conundrum. Meanwhile the printers continued their unholy noise and the screens blinked at them, daring them to play a game of pong. After a few minutes Troy just shook his head and leaned back.

"Hard to believe this is actually the study room," he said. "To think that in like seventy years we'll be pretending to study in it."

"More like twenty seven and three months," Abed said. "I'm just impressed the school never burned down between then and now. If it wasn't for the way the walls are crooked by half an inch I almost wouldn't recognize it."

"Yeah, it looks so retro," Troy said. "But they still have great chicken fingers and amazing fries. And the last time anything looked this clean was just before the Tranny Dance"

"I guess some things don't change," Abed said, then it hit him. Then he looked up at Troy like a bolt of lightning hit him. "That's it! Troy don't you see! This is Greendale which means some things are constant!"

"What do you mean? Like Leonard?"

"Leonard yes, but think about it, what sort of event does Greendale host all the time but never actually results in any actual romantic subplots being forwarded?"

"Five dances?"

"Exactly! Five Dances!"

"You mean…"

"We need to host Greendale's first ever Tranny Dance!"

* * *

Before she ever came to Greendale, the amount of chases that Annie had ever been involved in numbered exactly zero. Yet now she felt he couldn't count them all unless she really tried. Of course of all the chases, none really compared to this one. Chasing Pierce through Hawthorne Tower… and having to stop herself from stopping every few seconds to not be thrown through a loop by the incredible amounts of 80's and weird that it contained was just the beginning.

Sure, she'd seen plenty of this at Greendale. But it paled in comparison to Hawthorne Tower. All the neon florescent lights, the perms and the sheer amount of accountants with their greasy hair slickered back, like all the child molesters in the educational videos that her grade school used to make her watch in order to be safe; it was infinitely creepy and that was before she even saw one of them attempting to combine the slick look with his mullet.

The stuff of nightmares!

And of course the 80's was only half of it all. It didn't take a lot of brain power to figure out that the entire floor dedicated to 'Anglo Heritage wipes' had little to do with the 80's and a lot to do with Pierce's incredibly, horrible, specifically racist dad. Particularly the hallway that featured a line up of paintings of Cornelius Hawthorne through the ages, each whiter than the last; the paintings even went beyond the 80's until it got to 2011 and featured a plain white painting.

At one point, Annie swore she ran by a young Gilbert, with a comically large afro and carrying what looked like a prototype of the game they would all eventually play. She would have loved to have gotten a better look but she forced herself to focus on the task at hand… chasing down Pierce.

Which of course seemed like it should have been an easy task. But Pierce knew the building like the back of his hand and she barely kept up with him as he ducked into hallways, slid down stair railings, and cut through offices. In the end they wound up outside the building, and that was where Pierce almost managed to lose her. He took a cab and Annie only barely got in another one in time to follow.

Which led her to be in her current location; the Greendale Community Zoo. She remembered coming to this place as a kid, her dad dragged her away from the Penguin Exhibit kicking and screaming. How could she help it if she thought penguins were unquestionably adorable? After that incident, and one of her adderall trips that had her trying glue black tarp over the glass of the bat cages so 'none of us could see one another'. Or at least that's what she remembered telling them before she was banned for life.

Luckily that wouldn't happen for another couple of decades so all she had to worry about was finding Pierce before he got himself eaten or something.

Annie sighed and rubbed her head. At the very least she hadn't had anymore weird episodes like the one in the elevator. It had to have just been exhaustion from the day, or maybe that horrible cooking oil on those fries. Either way she felt fine and could only hope that Troy and Abed were having better luck that she was.

After a few minutes of wandering near the entrance area, Annie ventured deeper, past the monkey exhibit and the lions. Wherever Pierce hid, he was doing a good job of it. And the deeper into the zoo Annie wandered, the more she realized that in order to find Pierce she would have to think like Pierce.

Which is how she knew to go to 'Africa Land'. And how she knew to go to the Rhinoceros pen. Pierce would, after all, feel that it wasn't at all inappropriate to try and hold a Rhino's horn hostage, claiming he would cell it to poachers for it's remarkable aphrodisiatic powers.

Of course she didn't get to hear those demands herself. On her way there, Annie passed by a woman with her adorable toddler. A little girl with a button nose and gorgeous blond curls. Before Annie even knew what was happening, the lady ran up to her and told her about the crazy man threatening to poach a rhino's horn. Then without even looking twice the lady passed her daughter over to Annie.

"I have to make sure that monster doesn't hurt that animal! I need you to take care of my daughter until I get back!"

Annie tried to protest but the woman was already running off toward Africa Land without even glancing back to see if Annie was feeding her daughter to the lions or something. So in the end, all Annie could do was stand there and holding the child's hand, completely dumbfounded.

Over in the Rhino Pen, Pierce was no doubt trying to put a knife to a rhino's horn and Annie was stuck babysitting some random ladies kid. How did these things keep happening to her? Annie felt her head spin and closed her eyes, half way hoping that when she opened them again the little girl would be gone. And to her great terror, she had.

Annie caught a glimpse of the girl running toward the Penguin Exhibit. She kicked her feet up in a mad dash for her; just catching before she entered. In a mad panic Annie grabbed the little girl's backpack, only to have her scream out.

"Lemme go! Mommy! I wanna see the Penguins! Lemme go!"

"Little Girl… Sweetie…" Annie said. "You don't… come on, your mommy left me in charge and… ow!"

A tiny foot connected with Annie's shin and the little girl dashed into the penguin house. Annie gritted her teeth and followed. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkened room, but she quickly spied her leaning against the glass, watching the penguins diving into their little pond. In spite of the situation, Annie sighed and approached slowly. The little girl was awfully adorable, with her very pink clothes, and Rainbow Bright backpack. And the penguins were very cute as well. It would have almost been fun if not of the circumstances.

Annie leaned over to her, to quietly suggest they go to the Africa Exhibit when she heard a small sniffle.

She turned toward the sound to see a small boy huddled in the corner. Annie narrowed her eyes and approached him. He sat, with his knees gathered up to his chest and head buried in his arms. He sniffed again as Annie neared but took notice of her and quickly pressed his sleeves against his eyes, trying to hide the tears.

"It's okay," Annie said. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Annie, what's yours?"

"I can't find my dad," the boy said.

"Oh I'm so sorry," Annie took another step forward. "We were going to the rhino pen. Maybe he's there."

"No," the boy shook his head. "My dad doesn't even care. He's been gone for hours."

"That's horrible!" Annie gasped. "I'm sure he's very worried about you. We need to find a zoo employee so they can call your mom. Here, take my hand and we'll all go looking for one."

"Okay," he took her hand and stood up. Annie smiled at him. "I'll need to know your name so we can tell the zookeepers who to call."

"I'm Jeff Winger."


	7. Chapter 7

"I have to be honest, if we were on a yacht or in a military prison this would be both my worst nightmare and greatest dream come true!" the dean said from his seat at the opposite end of the cell; where Jeff exiled him. An invisible line Jeff had made the dean imagine separated their two halves of the cell. "You don't happen to have a banana on you do you?"

Jeff gritted his teeth and sighed. "Dean, just tell me how you got here."

"I don't even know Jeff!" he sat up a little straighter. "They arrested me for impersonating the dean of Greendale! I tried to explain that I am the dean but nobody believed me! Even after I showed them my i.d.!"

"1985 dean. How did you get to 1985? You weren't in the Time Desk with us."

"1985? Oooh that would explain why all the cops looked like they were stepping out of Chips or TJ Hooker. And all the Burt Reynolds style mustaches everyone has…"

"Burt Reynolds," Pierce said from the opposite cell. "Now that guy has a fashion that will never go out of style."

"That's what I've always thought," the Dean said then he narrowed his eyes. "Have we met before? You seem very familiar."

"That's Pierce, Dean."

"Pierce," the dean adjusted his glasses as his eyes slid over Pierce. "Oh my."

"Okay Dean, seriously, focus, he's old enough to be your Father," Jeff said. "How did you get to 1985?"

"Well after you so insensitively brushed us all off, before I could even get the cake I was going to burst out of ready, I went looking for you. But you were nowhere to be found. Then I saw Pierce duck into a storage room and I decided to follow. I opened the door just in time to see him close a hatch or a door, or something to my old desk"

"I did no such thing!" Young Pierce said. "You sure you don't have confused with Steve Marin or Ted Roark?"

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember you," the dean said and Jeff rolled his eyes.

"You realize he's probably swimming in every V.D. known to man right? This is the 80's"

"I'll have you know I'm a happily married man!" Pierce said. "My wife and her daughter mean... things to me!"

"But could... Others... Mean... Something...to...you?" The dean winked, Oblivious to the fact that Pierce could still barely see.

"How did you get here Dean!?"

"Okay okay! I was trying to find a way in, when the desk started making this weird vorp vorp sound and the room started shaking. All I could think about was that it might be an earthquake, so I ducked under the desk. When the shaking stopped I heard you guys leaving the room but I didn't get out in time to catch up with you. And well, I must have traveled with you... Wait! I just put it together! My Desk is TIME DESK! I was right all along!"

"Yeah," Jeff muttered. "Congratulations Dean Dangerous."

Jeff sighed and settled his back against the bars a bit, trying desperately to get comfortable. When that didn't work he admitted defeat and stretched out on the cot, though he promised himself that he wouldn't go to sleep. He kept having this waking nightmare about the dean standing over him, breathing heavily if he did. Best not to risk it. What he really needed now, was to figure out how he was going to get out of here. He could only imagine what was going on with Annie or what kind of trouble Troy and Abed were causing.

"1985!" The dean rubbed his bald head. "Can you believe it!? Oh no! What if we sneeze on a butterfly!? Or we wind up seeing ourselves as a baby and tickle ourselves?"

"Dean, you were in high school in 85!"

"Well I could still tickle myself." The dean said flatly.

Jeff shuddered and rolled over, putting his back to the dean and wondering if he could actually kill himself in the past? There had to be some sort of time law that would prevent it from being permanent right? He just focused on the bars in front of him, though he had to keep on ear open in case the dean decided to cross the imaginary line.

"But what if we do something to destroy the future like in Back to the… Future? I have an appointment with some very important men with My Little Pony costumes."

"Ugh, you're a Brony," Jeff muttered. "Figures."

"Jeff! We could be erasing the future right now!"

Jeff sat up, the dean stood right at the edge of the line. Jeff planted his hands on his knees and locked eyes with the diminutive dean. "We're not going to erase the future. You know why? Because we're locked in a jail cell away from any possible event that actually could erase the future, and believe me dean I know all about saving the future, I've had to do it more times than I want to count since finding that damn Time Desk!"

"What? You mean this isn't your first time?"

"No," Jeff said. "Troy, Abed, Annie, and I found that thing last year and… well your life gets really weird when you time travel and all sorts of crap is always happening and each time there's running, and screaming, and people threatening to eat you. And frankly I'm sick of it! Everyone thinks that time travel is this cool amazing thing that lets you go back and buy stock in apple or bang Marie Antoinette, but it never works that way, and just once, just once I'd like it to give me something back!"

The dean blinked at Jeff like he'd just been told that Santa wasn't real. And then he took a step over the line. Jeff almost got up to shove him back over; but in the space of time between thought and action, the dean crossed the distance and sat down next to him. Jeff just tightened his lips, counted to ten in his mind, then looked down at him.

"It's okay," the dean said. "Isn't it? I mean… I've only dreamed of time traveling and you've actually done it. Is it really all that bad? Something good has to have come from it."

Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a slow breath. His previous tantrum didn't really matter now. The dean was giving off one of those rare vibes of not being completely bizarre and Jeff… was actually just tired of the yelling and the running around.

"If I had to pick one thing that didn't suck," he finally said. "It would be the traveling companions."

"Well Troy and Abed are very hip and diverse dudes."

Jeff raised a brow then shook his head. "Yeah, well… I wasn't exactly talking about them. You know it's weird, on our very first trip back in time, I had to help Annie. We thought we were going to destroy the universe back then too. Hell, we though Annie would be why it happened. But she… she wound up surprising us… surprising me in the end. She always does that you know? Just when I think I have her figured out, she pulls a stunt like saving the future or making me feel stuff… it's never boring with her."

"Oh?" the dean said. "I never knew you felt that way about her."

"I don't!" Jeff's knee-jerk reaction shot out before anything else. Instantly he felt a weird prick in his chest. "Well… it's complicated Dean-"

"Craig."

"It's complicated Dean… See Annie is… I've been with a lot of women in my time. Drop dead gorgeous widows or divorcees that I helped scam their ex or dead husbands for cash, or knock outs that I met at bars. And every single one of them, I wanted nothing to do with after one night, they were hot but boring. And none of them actually made me want to do stuff, you know… real life stuff. Then I came to Greendale, and I met Britta, and she was the first woman in a long time to actually make me work to get her, the same with Slater. And for a while, I thought that if I was ever going to settle on just one girl, it would be them, close enough to my old type but different enough to keep me interested."

Jeff glanced over at the dean, who looked up at him with bright curious eyes. He couldn't help but wonder why he was telling him this. Maybe he somehow thought it would get the man off his back. Or maybe, he just finally wanted to get it out of his mouth in a place he knew it would never come back to him, and in front of someone that would never have any right to judge him. He glanced up at the cell across from theirs. Pierce looked bored and hardly paid attention, on the other hand, His burley cellmate leaned against the bars, listening to their conversation in rapt attention.

"…And well, then there was Annie and from the moment I met her she was challenging me, and pushing me, and getting right past every wall I ever used to push people away. I mean everyone in the study group did that, but Annie has a special talent for it. And it didn't seem to matter how hard I pushed, she just pushed right back and… don't get me wrong, she's naïve and even after all the crap she's been through, still sees the world with rose colored glasses. But the more time I spend with her the I want to believe that maybe the world isn't as cynical a place as I thought is was. And nothing can change that, not me, not time travel, not even all the weird things at Greendale. So if anything has been good about these time travel adventures, it's her."

A loud sniffle came from across the room, Jeff followed the sound to the convict. Tears streamed down his cheeks while he wiped his nose through the bars. Jeff exchanged a look with the dean; even he seemed to find it a bit surprising.

"That was the gayest thing I ever heard," Pierce called out.

Immediately the convict ripped his attention from Jeff and the glared death at Pierce. Luckily for the man who's future self would be calling Jeff gay, the convict left it at only a furious look, rather than a more intimate shanking. The convict finally turned back to Jeff and the dean.

"That man… oh man… that was the most beautiful thing I ever heard!" the tears reappeared. "I… I think I don't know what I'm doing with my life! You have it so together… and I don't… I mean I've… I've been thinking about getting into m…male modeling! I don't know… but you get it man!"

"Uh… thanks… dude…" Jeff said.

"Look man," the convict looked right, then left. "I've been saving this for myself and waiting for the right time, but I can't take it anymore! If anyone of us deserves to be free, it's you!"

"What?"

The con pulled away from the bars, stalked over to Pierce and unceremoniously threw him off the cot. Before the young millionaire could get up, the con dumped the mattress on top of him. Then he picked something up and ran back to the bars.

"Here!" he said and tossed the item to them. The dean caught it and then held it up with one of his trademark 'whoa's'.

A key. The con had a key.

"Will this do what I think it will?" Jeff hardly dared to believe.

"The guards are on break right now, if you open the cell, then make a sharp right, you'll get to the emergency exit. The alarm doesn't work so you'll be able to walk right out."

Jeff already had the key in the lock, all the while the dean hung just behind him, jumping up and down slightly in anticipation. With a satisfying click, the lock snapped open and he stepped out of his cell with the dean in tow. Jeff took a few quick glances around before running over to the other cell and handing the key back to the con.

"I don't need it," the prisoner said. "I'm going to do my time and use it to earn a degree or something."

"Well I need it!" Pierce said. "You're going to let me out right? Aren't you… um… J… Jason?"

"If you were being chased where's the second place you'd go?" Jeff said.

Pierce blinked at him and tried to focus his mace-damaged eyes. Probably trying to figure out what his trick was. Jeff just had to hope that his need for instant gratification one out. Off down the hall, the sounds of footsteps echoed and Jeff took a half step toward the exit.

"I don't know… someplace safe… like a McDonald's, or a Zoo."

"The zoo…" Jeff said, feeling his gut twist a little.

"Yeah! Now let me out! Or are you and your boyfriend going to leave me hanging?"

The sound of a door opened and Jeff took a full step.

"Oh he's not my boyfriend," the dean said. "And I think we'd be a bit beyond such petty titles.

"Let me out!" Pierce grabbed at the bars.

"Ask your cellmate nicely," Jeff tossed the key to the inmate and made for the doors. "Come on dean!"

"You can't do this to me!" the young millionaire roared. "I'm Pierce Hawthorne! I'm going to remember you and your gay friend! I'll remember you Joel Wheeler! I will!"

Jeff couldn't help but smile to himself as he stepped out the door. If he knew that opening his heart up held this many benefits he might start doing it more often. Then he glanced over at the dean and decided that maybe that wasn't such a hot idea after all. And at any rate he didn't have a lot of time to think about it.

"Dean," he said. "I'm going to check all the nearest McDonalds," he said. "I want you to go to the zoo. Look for Pierce… the old one. We have to get him back to the time desk."

"Does that mean we're a team like Dean Dangerous and his trusty sidekick Otto?"

"Sure," Jeff said. "And if you see Annie… don't tell her anything I said back there… but make sure she's safe."

"You can count on me Otto!"

* * *

As star quarter back and prom king at River Side High, Troy never had time for the power of imagination, but Abed… and by extension Greendale… had shown him the error of his ways. Whether it was a kick ass blanket fort, a brilliant paintball strategy that saved the day better than Jeff's, or an imagined claymation Christmas adventure, one thing remained a constant at Greendale; only nothing was impossible.

And so he wasn't terribly surprised that they'd managed to not only print and distribute dance flyers, organize refreshments and decorations, and even get a live band together, but did it in only the space of a few hours. All without even using the Time Desk!

So that part of the plan was working beyond his wildest dreams. Hundreds of students gathered in the quad, dancing, laughing, and carrying about, all good times. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about David Edison and himself.

David hung out near the trampoline, leaning against it while nursing a cup of punch. All the while he glared at Troy, who had his newly minted ex girlfriend hanging on his shoulders as they danced. If he could just figure how the hell to get Leah to let him go he would. Obviously, deep down he had always thought Annie's mom was kinda hot in a Mrs. Robinson kind of way, but he kept having weird flashes of what might happen and he just didn't think he could handle being Annie's Dad. She was high enough maintenance as a roommate.

The current song came to an end and everyone stopped dancing long enough to clap and wait for the next song. Everyone except Annie's mom, who clung even tighter against Troy, and if he wasn't mistaken, snaking her hands much further south than they should be.

"Okay!" Troy twisted away. "I think that's enough dancing for now. Don't you think? I think so…"

"Hmmm," Leah narrowed her eyes and cocked a half smile. "I think you're very right Bill. Mmmh, in fact I think it's time you give me a personal tour of this little college."

Somewhere Troy swore he heard a 'honk' as Annie's mom squeezed his butt. Troy yelped and stumbled backward. He threw his eyes around, pausing on Annie's dad just long enough to see the death glare being sent his way. No one else seemed to notice or care that she was touching him, in a no no way, in public.

"Um… Leah… I think… maybe… you see there are certain things you need to know about me that…"

"Oh Bill," she grinned. "Or should I call you William… hmmm, that has a much nicer ring to it. William S. Preston Esquire. That's the name of someone that's going places don't you think?"

"I really try not to!" Troy blurted out. "If you'll um… excuse me I think I need to go spike the punch!"

"Ooooh, bad boy," she winked at him. "I like it!"

Troy scrambled and managed to get lost in the crowd. Only then he could take half a calming breathe before plowing through it until he could get to Abed, who was busy helping the jazz band get set up for their next song.

"Abed!" he squeaked when he reached his best friend. "What is it with women in the past trying to make me fee like a virgin!? First Britta, then Abigail Adams now Annie's Mom!"

"Hmmm, could be that you get retroactively attractive the smaller the date is. I'll bet the Saxon's would have loved you."

"I know!" Troy said. "But Abed, this isn't working! Annie's dad wants to whoop me and Forrest Whitaker hasn't hit it big yet!"

"Yeah," Abed nodded. "He hasn't even done Good Morning Vietnam… I had this all playing out differently in my head."

"What are we going to do!?"

"People are having too good a time here," Abed said. "We need to mellow things out. Okay, I have a plan. Lay low and try not to French Annie's mom."

"I'll try but her tongue is everywhere! I think it's stalking me."

Abed turned to the band and spoke a few instructions then took a clarinet. He gave a one, two, three and then began playing the now familiar tune of Daybreak. The band chipped in where necessary and soon enough people stopped dancing and started staring at the band. Some even yawned. Troy glanced off to the side when he noticed some guy running to a nearby pay phone and shouting excitedly in it before holding the phone out for whoever was on the other line to hear.

Troy sighed and began tapping his feet. All the stress from time travel seemed to melt away as the smooth jazz washed over him. His eyes drifted shut and he began to sway. It was like being on a trampoline that didn't bounce. He opened his eyes to see the crowd swaying gently and drawing closer together. Couples danced cheek to cheek and in the corner of his eye he swore he saw one making out.

And in the center of it all, Annie's mom stared at him with sex in her eyes. The quad seemed to close in on him when he realized that this jazz was much too smooth and sexy for a crowd that hadn't lived through the Gulf War yet! Before he knew what he was doing he ran up to the microphone, imagined a beat in his head, then started rapping.

The band stopped playing, but Abed, noticing what was going on, encouraged them to just go with it and accompany him. Soon enough the crowd grew agitated and the couples separated, many of them cringed a little as he got further into it. But he didn't stop he just rapped about Inspector Spacetime, that hot redhead he got dumped by in highschool, Joe Biden, and Annie's Boobs. Anything he could think of that wasn't legit, at least by 80's standards.

He had seen Back to the Future enough. No way in Hell they were ready for this! This was the 80's. They still hadn't even gone through Hammer Time or Shaq Raps! And soon enough people started booing him and telling him to get off the stage. More importantly Annie's mom was glaring at him.

About the time that he had to dodge a pet rock, Troy dropped the mic and ran to Abed.

"Good thinking Troy," Abed said. "Your Johnny B. Goode trumped mine."

"No worries," Troy grinned while they did their handshake. "It looks like it did the trick. Annie's mom probably hates me now."

"Or at least has had several racial stereotypes reinforced in her mind and doesn't see you as a viable option now," Abed said while fishing in his pocket for the photo. "Now all we have to do is…"

He trailed off when he looked at the picture. Troy leaned in and gasped when he saw it too. Britta was completely gone and Shirley was fading too. The picture was still being erased. Behind the remaining Study Group members, Greendale itself was looking different, like they had made enough changes that the school itself would be different if they tried to go into the future.

"What's going on Abed!?" Troy said. "Is Britta even alive?"

"Of course she is," Troy said. "It just means that she was never present for that picture to be taken. We've managed to get Annie's mom to not like you anymore, but we haven't fixed things between her and Annie's dad. I think it's time for plan 'C'."

"I'll go get the baseball bats," Troy nodded.

"No, not that," Abed said. "The ultimate last resort in resolving sexual tension but still maintaining status quo."

"You don't mean..."

Abed held out his hand with his eyes closed in deep concentration. Troy shut his mouth and watched, his stomach bottomed out while he considered what they were about to do. If it worked it would be great… but even he knew what kind of fire they were about to play with.

"It's done," Abed said. "I've concentrated on what we will do with the Time Desk in the future, which means we should have what we need now. But we can't do it again. I don't know if the temporal regulator can take much more of this."

"Then we have to make it worth it," Troy said as he peeled off his shirt.

The two of them approached the refreshment table and threw back the tablecloth, revealing a massive stash of paintball supplies. Troy took a moment to glance back at the people at the dance. They had no idea of the horror that was about to be unleashed on them. But it had to be done. Troy grabbed a sheet of paper sitting on top of the paintball supplies and held it over his head.

He took a deep breath then held shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Priority Registration!"

* * *

The walls of the Penguin Palace in the Greendale Zoo echoed with screams. When they first started, Annie feared they came from her mouth due to having just met a pint sized Jeff Winger. But now, several minutes after their commencement and continued battering against her ears, Annie was about ready to throw little blondie to swim with the flightless birds.

Couldn't this little girl see there were much much bigger things going on than the fact that the penguins looked sad and should be set free? Like the fact that for the first time since she had known him, Annie could see the top of Jeff's head without standing on something!? Or that fact that little Jeff looked terrified and ready to bolt to God knows where?

Annie glanced at Jeff, making sure he didn't make for the door then she went over to blondie, now currently banging on the glass and probably scaring the bowties off the poor penguins she so desperately wanted to liberate. She didn't even notice as Annie stepped up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Um… little girl… little girl the penguins like it in there."

"You sound just like my daddy!" she screamed and continued to pound away.

Annie bit her lip and felt the sudden urge to pull out her own hair and scream. No wonder this girl's mom dumped her into her arms. Not knowing what else to do Annie pulled her phone out of her pocket, trying to call… well nobody at this point; as her screen reminded her she had 'no signal'.

"What's that thing?" Jeff said from behind her.

"It's…" Annie glanced at her phone. "It's my awesome fun box?"

"Uh huh…" Jeff had one of his pointy eyebrows popped up and Annie shivered just a little of how much it reminded herself of the grown up version. "What's your awesome fun box do?"

"Plays… video games?" Annie said. "You guys have those by now right?"

"Like that new Super Mario Brothers thing?" Jeff's eyes lit up.

"Yes," Annie nodded and held her phone out. "Exactly like Super Mario Brothers."

Jeff quickly snatched the phone from Annie and then settled into the corner. The screen illuminated his face, and surprised eyes, as touched it. A strange feeling settled in the pit of Annie's stomach… another strange form of déjà vu she supposed. A feeling she couldn't really dwell on as something hard hit her in the back of the head.

Annie spun around to blondie, who now stood with her fists bunched together and only wearing one shoe. The time traveler held onto a breath and pinched her lips together into a thin line. She couldn't lose it, not here, not in front of Jeff. Who knew what he actually would remember from this encounter? The last thing she wanted was for Jeff to have flashbacks of her spazzing out on some poor kid.

"Go get my mommie!" blondie stomped her shoeless foot. "She'll get the penguins out!"

"Sweetie," Annie smiled. "Your mommy is helping the rhinos right now. Maybe we can see if there's a way to feed the penguins?"

"They're not hungry!" blondie said.

"You don't need your mom," Jeff said not even looking up from the phone. "Parents are dumb. My dad just left me here to be eaten by lions or something."

"That's not true," Annie said, deep down realizing she was probably one of the worst people to be reassuring him. "I'm sure… I'm sure your dad cares about you very much."

"No," Jeff shook his head. "He's always doing stuff like this. It's like his job."

"My daddy's job is to shout at the tv," blondie said.

"And mine was to shout at my mom," Annie said. "But that didn't mean that my dad didn't also love me. And that doesn't mean that, even though your dad might not always be there for you, he doesn't care about you Jeff."

"Whatever," Jeff turned his eyes back to the phone. "He left me here, just like he left last time I was playing foosball."

Annie knelt down a bit so she could be eye level with him; and she took half a second to consider how weird it was that their height difference had reversed. Putting that thought away she lightly gripped Jeff's shoulders until he looked up from the phone at her. Even as an eight year old in the dimly lit penguin palace, Annie could see hints of her Jeff, that same button nose, those same blue eyes. What she didn't see was the years of cynicsm and living he'd always had written on his face. She knew she couldn't change the future, this was an important part of who Jeff was and if she did too much she risked affecting what might eventually happened…

But she couldn't just let this little boy wallow in loneliness.

"Jeff," she said. "I know you might not believe me, but someday, after you've probably forgotten all about this conversation. You're going to have a group of people that really do care about you, no matter what you do or say they'll stick with you and you'll go on amazing adventures with them! You'll commandeer a kfc space shuttle simulator, fight in two paintball wars, save Christmas, and even rescue your friends from Mexican Drug Lords. But most importantly, you'll never be alone again after that! Just trust me."

At least for one moment, Jeff seemed to forget all about the phone, or the fact that his dad left him, or even blondie. Instead he focused completely on Annie, blinking at her with furrowed brows but bright eyes.

"Really?" he finally said. "You really think so?"

"Yeah," Annie nodded and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I really do-"

The door to the Penguin Palace abruptly flew open and Annie actually fell onto her rear when none other than the Dean burst in. Not a mulletted teenager but her actual dean; dressed completely like full on Material Girl Madonna, complete with torn fishnet stockings, a stone washed jean skirt, half a blouse and a big puffy leather jacket. He cast his eyes all around and then settled on Annie, looking almost as surprised to see her as she must have been.

"Annie!" he said. "Where's Pierce?"

"Dean?" Annie shook her head. "What are you doing here?"

"Ouch," the dean said and his eyes locked onto Jeff and blondie. "Are you reenacting adventures in babysitting? I can get you a Thor helmet. I saw one when I was buying this outfit. A little crude, but I made do with the time I had."

"What? Dean! Seriously, how are you even here!?"

"I'm looking for Pierce! We heard he was here!"

"The rhino pen," Annie managed to get to her feet. "But how did you-"

"Okay good! Rhinos! Jeff was way off! He's searching at the Mcdonalds across the street. Gotta go I gotta get Pierce!"

"Wait! Dean!"

Unfortunately the door clapped shut before the words even finished coming out of her mouth. Instead of having any sort of answer about how the hell the Dean was even in 1985, she was left with a pint sized Jeff and a blonde cry baby. That and a gaggle of penguins waddling in the background. The room hung heavy with Annie's confusion, until blondie broke the silence.

"Who was that lady?" she said.

"Was it a she?" Jeff said.

"Sometimes I don't even know," Annie leaned her back against the wall.

"Did she say I was at Mcdonalds?" Jeff said.

Annie cast a sidelong glance at young Jeff… she had been in the same room as her younger self on their first adventure, but she had never let gotten a clear look at herself; old or young. What would happen if Jeff came here and saw himself here? Her eyes locked onto the door and her gut told her to leave the room and not chance it. Then she glanced back at Jeff and even blondie. She couldn't just leave them here alone could she?

Amidst these thoughts, she'd stood and wandered closer to the door. When she looked back, both Jeff and blondie watched her intently. Jeff seemed to have forgotten her phone entirely; she never thought she'd see the day that happened. But the fact that his eyes had just a glimmer of fear in them dashed away Annie's thoughts of just leaving… at least right away.

"You know what I think we should do?" Annie said. "I think maybe we should go to the zoo's front office. Maybe we'll be able to get a hold of your mom's and get you both home."

"My mommy says that we will bring home aminals we rescued from the zoo," blondie said.

Annie rolled her eyes. "well maybe we'll just see if we can't get you in touch with child services. Come on kids."

"I don't wanna go," Jeff said. "I don't ever want to see him again!"

"But your mom will be there. We all know you love your mom."

"But he will be there too!" Jeff furrowed his tiny brows.

"And it's all going to be okay," Annie did her best to smile. "Just trust me."

"Can you come with me?" Jeff said after a moment

Annie smiled at him in spite of how sad that was. "I don't think you'd think I was very fun after a while. But maybe we can get together when you're older."

"What about me?" Blondie said.

"We'll see!?" Annie said. "But first we need to get the two of you to the office so you can get to your parents."

Annie reached for the door for the door handle but it opened before she could grab it and she had to stumble backward just to avoid getting hit. After regaining her footing, Annie looked up at the man standing in the doorway. At first glance she thought Jeff had walked in on them. He certainly was tall enough, but the trademark spikey hair wasn't there or the elfin nose. Still Annie couldn't help but think of Jeff when she looked at him.

"There you are," the man said, looking right past Annie and at the little boy behind her.

"Yeah," little Jeff said flatly.

"I've been worried sick," the man said with all the conviction of someone that just found his remote sandwiched between the couch cushions.

"Uh huh," little Jeff said. "Can we go now?"

The man's brows furrowed and for the first time since walking into the room his lips curled into a genuine frown. He took a deep breath and let it go as he looked down at the boy.

"Look Jeff," he said. "It was a simple mistake. I didn't mean to leave you here. But tell you what, why Don't we hit up the arcade after this? Maybe even Pizza? My treat

Little Jeff jumped directly besides Annie and grabbed her hand. "I'll just wait here with her until you go get mom!"

Annie's insides squirmed as Jeff's dad seemed to notice her. This was something she really wanted to avoid. But there he was, picking his boy up after leaving him at the zoo. This was the horrible man that Jeff had made sure everyone in the study group knew he hated. Part of her seethed, just a bit, as she looked at him; not only for what he had just done to Jeff, but what he would eventually do.

And yet, she noticed those same blue eyes that Jeff had and the same wrinkles in his forehead, and the expression of a dad that was really trying to make things better. At least at first, because the moment they locked eyes, his expression changed.

"You made a friend," Jeff's dad shot a quick glance at his son then turned back to Annie and lit up the room with a lopsided grin that perfectly mirrored his son's. "I take it you've been keeping my son company."

"Uh… yeah…" Annie stared at him, feeling very much like the proverbial deer in the headlights.

"My name is Bill, Bill Winger," he took a small step closer.

"Pleased to meet you," Annie tried but it came out as more of a squeak. The more she looked at him the more she couldn't wrap her mind around the situation.

His smile broadened a little bit and he stretched out his hand toward her. "Believe me, I'm the one that's pleased, so does the woman who saved my son have a name?"

This wasn't happening, Annie's stomach bottomed out. She was not being hit on by Jeff's dad… right in front of him. She refused to accept that. It just wasn't happening. It was too weird and horrible to contemplate. It hurt her head to even consider it. She tried to think of her name but came up with a blank. Her mind shot to the first name she could think of.

"Britta Perry?" she mumbled out.

"What? Blondie said off in the background.

"Britta," Jeff's dad said. "That's a unique name."

"Cause it's not my name," Annie blurted out, trying to get semblance of control back.

"Hey that's okay," he shrugged. "Sometimes I make up different names for myself too. I'm a big fan of Jack Swanson, or Tom Steeleman."

"Yeah, that's nice…" Annie said. "My real name is Annie… Victoria… Bedison…"

"That's just the name I would have guessed," he said and took her hand with the pretense of shaking.

"Dad."

"Go wait in the car Jeff."

"Dad."

"Go wait in the car Jeff, I'm trying to thank this nice lady."

"Dad there are other people here…"

She had been so focused on the fact that Jeff's dad was hitting on her, she didn't notice the door open and Pierce, the Dean, and Jeff standing there. Annie's eyes fixed on him as she felt all the blood drain from her face. It would have happened anyway, even if the expression on Jeff's face didn't scream death. In a blind panic she pried her hand away from Jeff's dad and backed away.

"Um… Ryan… Jeff…" she stammered. "Look at the time! We should really get back to Greendale."

"Jeff?" Jeff's dad said. "What are you talking about? Who are those guys?"

Jeff stepped forward, his hands curled up in tight fists, even in the dark Annie could see them trembling slightly. Annie glanced all around for something, anything to diffuse the situation, but everyone, including little Jeff, just remained fixed on the two tallest men in the room.

"You a friend of Annie's?" Jeff's dad said.

"You son of a bitch," Jeff spoke in a low voice.

"Excuse me?"

"That's your son there," Jeff pointed at his younger self. "Your son."

"How do you-"

"First you leave him here, at this damn zoo and then you have the gall to try and cheat on your wife with your goddammed son watching! Who the hell do you think you are!?"

"Listen pal, I think you need to calm down, what I do is none of your business."

"You don't get to tell me what to do!" Jeff advanced another step. "Not since you walked out on me! Not since you left me in the fucking Penguin Palace!"

"Hey watch your language in front of my kid!"

"What!? What!?"

Jeff launched himself at his father, fists flying. The pair of them toppled over all the while Jeff shouted obscenities at his father and pounded his fists into him. The dean screamed, Pierce yelled for Jeff to keep going. And he did, he just kept pounding away. Blondie balled and latched onto Annie's hand. All the while, little Jeff hovered nearby calling out for his dad.

"Jeff! Jeff stop it!" Annie ran up to the brawling pair. Tears stung at Annie's eyes as she saw the utter rage on his face. This wasn't the Jeff she knew. His face twisted in rage as he pummeled his father. "Jeff for god's sake!"

"Let go of my dad!" little Jeff clamped onto his older self's arm as he reeled back for another swing. In the heat of a moment Jeff shoved the kid back. Little Jeff smacked against the wall and Annie rushed to him. Pierce finally lurched forward and tore old Jeff off of his dad.

Jeff looked at the scene in front of him. Annie holding his younger self, blondie crying in the corner, the dean, with his wig removed and tears stream down his cheek, and his dad, bleeding underneath him. Jeff rubbed his knuckles and then ran a hand through his hair.

"What are you all staring at?" he said. "We need to get the hell out of here."


	8. Chapter 8

"Abed?"

"Troy?"

Troy climbed out of the jungle gym of piled desks; around him, faint wasps of smoke pricked at his nose and splotches of paint dotted the hallways. He cast his eyes around until he spotted Abed, crawling out from the remnants of the trampoline, and sporting a makeshift paintball utility belt.

"Is it over?"

"It's only been a few hours," Abed said. "It took all night in 2010, but the initial rush is over. By now factions are likely breaking out."

"Okay," Troy breathed and holstered his paintball pistol. "Remember when we used to think that paintball was cool?"

Abed cracked his neck to one side then stifled a yawn. "Anytime a gimmick is overused it becomes boring. Luckily for everyone but us, this is a novel concept."

Troy nodded and surveyed the quad. Only a few hours earlier, students danced and swayed to the sweet sounds of Daybreak, now they could be heard in the distant halls shooting each other with paint and screaming at each other. When they arrived in the time desk that morning, the school had looked peaceful, warm, fresh out of the box even. Now… they'd trashed the place.

"I hope all of this was worth it," Troy muttered.

"If it fixes the future, it will be," Abed said. "We should try and find Annie's parents to be sure though."

The pair gave each other quick nods before drawing their pistols and holding them at the ready. Together they stalked across the quad, careful to step over or around anything that might make a noise. School officials had been quick to make sure anybody that got hit with paint went home, though surprisingly, they hadn't put an end to the game altogether.

Greendale's hallways faired even worse than the quad. Paint on the walls, floor, and ceiling . Troy figured that by now, he should be used to such sights, but they never failed to run a shiver up his spine that was equal parts terrified and awesome.

Of course he did find it a bit strange that he didn't find it strange to see people covered in paint pellets while wearing leg warmers and headbands. Apparently with some people, that sort of thing never went out of fashion. It was Greendale after all, something's never changed.

Luckily, the met little resistance, with the student population whittled down to the few survivors who would win, seeing other students was a rarity. However, at one point they stumbled across Greendale's current dean, covered in paint and looking more than a little drunk. He emphatically told them that 'never again would priority registration be allowed!" before he passed out. Troy and Abed just accepted it as one of those crazy time travel things. Somehow they weren't too worried that Dean Pelton would disregard whatever past edicts were made for their first paintball war.

They neared the library and immediately the two quieted their steps. The sound of voices echoed on the halls, what sounded almost like an argument. They exchanged glances and nodded. Arguing was probably a sure sign of their quarry. And it also meant that their paintball plan had failed.

They turned the corner to find Annie's parents, in the computer lab that would one day be the study room. They stood there, covered in paint and readjusting their clothes. Troy and Abed exchanged glances but didn't have much time to react otherwise as the pair continued their squabbling.

"Yeah I don't care if it was amazing!" Leah said. "You're not that good a shot!"

"Really?" David threw his arms out. "Well that's not what you were saying when you had your tongue in my mouth!"

"Good thing we're still broken up!" Leah said. "Or I'd have to dump you again!"

"Not if I dumped your ass first! In fact I think we should get together next week just so we can see who dumps who first!"

"You're on!"

The couple stormed off and Troy made to follow them but Abed shook his head and fumbled in his pocket until he retrieved the photo. He then nudged Troy and passed it to him. Troy grinned at the picture. The study group was there. All of them. Britta and Shirley had reappeared entirely and they all looked as happy as they'd ever been. They'd done it, they'd fixed the future.

"Let's go," Abed whispered.

"But how?" Troy said.

"You're asking me how emotions work?" Abed raised a brow. "All I know is that it did and I'm taking it."

They managed to get away unseen, even after Troy tripped over a broken skateboard someone had left in the hall. Leah and David were apparently too occupied shouting at each other to notice. Once they got back the quad they did a victorious buddy handshake, followed by a round of relieved laughter.

"I can't believe it!" Troy let out a sigh. "I can't believe we pulled it off!"

"This is just like that time the Inspector fought the Blorgon invasion of 2389x."

"Yeah!" Troy jabbed a finger his direction. "It was just like that! Oh man! We should go back to the time desk so we can track the other guys down!"

"No need," Abed nodded toward the door as Annie, Jeff, and Pierce walked through the door.

"Oh good… wait is that the Dean?" Troy narrowed his eyes at the short bald man behind them.

Abed frowned and rubbed his chin and Troy rubbed his eyes. Sure enough the dean followed right behind Pierce, half dressed like Madonna. They didn't bother exchanging looks, instead noticing the Annie's somber expression, or the way that Jeff kept glancing over to her.

Annie spotted them first and broke out into an all out sprint their direction. Panic welled up from Troy's feet to his spine the closer she got. He'd just seen her mom tackle her dad and almost beat him up. He knew in that respect, the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree.

Luckily she went for Abed, digging her fingertips into his shoulders as she huffed and puffed her words. "Parents… my parents…"

"It's okay Annie," Abed said. "Your parents are fine."

"Better than fine," Troy clapped her on the arm. "We did it. We fixed the future! Your parents are broken up exactly the way they need to be."

"Thank god!" Annie reached over and hugged Troy then Abed. "You don't know how much I needed to hear that. Oh my god! Thank you so much!"

"No worries, Annie," Troy grinned. "That's what we do. Fix crazy time things… speaking of… what the hell is the dean doing here!?"

"Okay, ouch!" the dean called over to them, obviously overhearing.

Annie's lip pressed into a fine line as she glanced back at her group. "He was hiding under the time desk when we took off. It brought him along with us."

"That's impossible," Abed's eyes narrowed. "That should have killed him The time vortex would have scattered his atoms across time itself."

"Well it didn't," Annie said. "He's here isn't he?"

"I guess," Abed frowned as the dean and the rest of them neared.

"Hey at least you guys got Pierce back," Troy eyed the old man. "You almost pulled a Biff Tannon on us didn't you."

"Eat me," Pierce said. "It would have worked. At least now I know it was your guy's fault I landed in jail in '85. I missed a very important date because of that and my wife left me. I hope you're happy!"

"If you want," the dean patted Pierce on the arm. "I could go and bail the younger you out."

"No!" Annie snapped at him. "We are going back to the time desk and we are getting the hell out of here!"

"Okay okay!" the dean held his hands up. "Just trying to be helpful."

"So did it work," Jeff finally spoke. Troy glanced at him and found his eyes drawn to how torn and dirty his clothes were. "Annie's parents? What the hell did you guys do the place?"

"First ever Tranny Dance/Paintball war," Troy said. "But we got it taken care of. The future is-"

Abed jerked suddenly, stopping the words from Troy's mouth as flailed and clawed at his pocket. He ripped the photo out and Troy's jaw dropped at seeing it. The thin piece of paper glowed red hot; Abed dropped it just as it burst into flames and toppled to the ground in a smoldering heap.

"What did you do!?" Troy looked to his best friend.

"It wasn't me it…" his eyes suddenly went to Jeff. "What did you do?"

* * *

Alarms blared when they opened the hatch to the time desk. Abed leaped in first, followed by Troy and then the dean. Annie prodded Pierce until he stumbled down the hatch, she couldn't help but glare at him the entire way down. It was his fault after all. They would have been on Relaxus Prime if he hadn't come in.

Finally she stood alone with Jeff. Alone for the first time since the Penguin Palace.

Down in the time desk she could hear Troy and Abed yelling orders and things crashing. Her stomach sank as she thought about what might greet them down there. Instead of looking at the spiral staircase she turned her attention to Jeff's hands of all things. She couldn't help but wince when she saw them. Red, swollen, and puffy, they bore every appearance of what they'd done barely an hour ago.

"Are they okay?" she said and he pulled his eyes to hers, as if he'd been looking far away.

"What?"

"Your hands? Are they okay?"

"I'm…" Jeff curled his fingers but they only got halfway to his palm before they shook and he let out a pained grunt. "They'll be fine."

"No they won't," Annie gently took his hand and held it in front of her face. "Jeff your fingers could be broken."

"I'll be fine," Jeff pulled his hand away.

"Jeff…"

"Annie can we just go?" he moved toward the desk. "I… we need to go. I want to get the hell away from this place… time! Whatever."

"Jeff you heard what Abed said after you told him what happened… this is bad…"

"Of course it's bad Annie," he shook his head. "But I would do it again in an instant! That bastard… he… you were there! He was all over you! With me standing there the entire time!"

"I'm not saying that he didn't maybe deserve it," Annie said. "But Jeff… I… you were terrifying like that. Even when you beat up Pierce at the hospital you weren't that scary."

Jeff sighed. "Okay well that part I am sorry about. I… Annie I don't know how else you expected me to react."

"Like a sane human being?" Annie snapped. "Jeff, you once tried to stop me from stopping my younger self from crashing through a plate glass window."

"No Annie, you stopped me from stopping you," he said. "And it all worked out didn't it? I'm sorry I freaked you out but I can't go back and change things… I think…"

Annie rubbed her forehead and glanced at the spiral stairs. "Well at least I know why you have so many issues. You must have been really scared when that happened to you as a kid."

"Yeah…"

"And I got to see you as a kid! You were super cute, not sure what happened between then and now though…"

"Um…"

"Do you remember me at all? Probably not considering what happened, though it really might explain a lot-"

"I don't know Annie, my memories of that day are really fuzzy. It was pretty traumatic."

"Aw," Annie frowned a bit. "I guess it all worked out then. Maybe you'll remember more later?"

"Maybe," Jeff shrugged and stepped closer. "Annie… when I was in jail… I was thinking about time travel and you and-"

"Guys!" Troy yelled from inside the time desk. "You have to get in here now!"

Slowly, Jeff nodded and slung his legs into the hatch. He kept his eyes on her with every step that he took until he saw that she was following. Annie took a few steps down then stopped just before she was all the way in. She cast her eyes around the world of 1985 and felt her stomach sink and her breath catch in her throat.

Maybe it was because the storage room was dark and dank, but Annie felt herself shaking. She clasped the hatch and then clapped it shut, putting all of her muscle into fastening the latch as firmly as she could. Once done she practically ran down the stairs before stopping at the bottom.

If it sounded bad from outside, actually seeing it was far worse. Red lights faded on and off in a slow rhythmic pattern, bathing the control room in a warning light. Sparks splashed out from the consoles and bulkheads while Abed and Troy ran themselves ragged around the central control panel. Each time they threw a switch or mashed a button, some other warning light would come on or a new alarm would blare.

Pierce and Jeff stood off to the side, watching them work, while the dean pumped a lever that jutted out of one panel. Annie finally nodded determinedly and charged into the fray.

"Abed what's going on? What can I do?"

"The relative temporal regulator is fried," Abed clicked on several buttons before moving onto another console and winding some sort of wheel. "If we can't get it re-modulated in the next few minutes we could looking at a complete relative temporal collapse or even a localized quantum paradoxical event!"

"What the hell does any of that mean!?" Pierce said and for once he didn't look like the only one who was confused.

"It means that we've mangled the timeline!" Abed said. "Ordinarily the regulator protects us from temporal shifts in history. It folds any new events we might cause in the past into the fabric of reality. Or at least it does when it's working or when we don't cause too big of changes!"

"But we didn't cause any big changes! None of us are important enough to affect the future in any significant way. Right? It's not like we stopped Lincoln from being assassinated or something."

"That's not the problem," Abed said. "Our personal history has changed. We left too big of a wrinkle in our own past. And that wrinkle is us! Our own memories, and bodies weren't folded into the new timeline we're anomalies that the regulator can't compensate for in its current state. It's too overwhelmed!"

Annie shook her head, she barely followed any of that but she got the point. Something really bad was happening and some sort of regulator needed to be fixed. She grabbed onto Abed's arm so she could get his full attention.

"Tell me what to do!"

"That control panel, with the knobs," Abed motioned to his left. "Rotate them until the light in front of it flashes green."

Annie nodded and went to work. Troy scooched past her a couple of times carrying various tools and items to help fix the regulator. All the while she did her best not to pay attention to what else went on around her and focus on her given task. Rotate knobs until green light. She had no clue what that would even mean once accomplished, she just kept her eyes fixed on the light, that way she didn't have time to panic on what might happen.

All at once her light went green, the time desk lurched and Abed let out a yelp. Annie kept her hands on the knobs but leaned over so she could see him. He held a cable in his hands that sparked at the middle where he'd fused them together. He clapped his hands and ran to the panel next to her.

"We have lift off!" Troy said from the other side.

"Lift off?" Jeff looked around. "Is that what happened?"

"I'm trying to get us back to our time," Abed said typing away furiously at the keyboard in front of him. "But I have to synch us up with the new modified timeline."

"And if you can't?" the dean said.

Abed looked up from the controls and over at his friends. "The time desk gets ripped apart and we die."

"Oh," Jeff huffed. "Is that all? You don't have a plan b?"

"The only other way would be to try and pull the paradox, the wrinkle, out of the timeline. Then the temporal regulator would be able to compensate and fold us back in."

"But Abed," Annie looked up from her console. "We're the wrinkles."

"Coming up on 2012," Abed said. "Everyone grab onto something, this is going to be a bumpy ride!"

Annie didn't have time to ask any questions as floor and walls around them shuddered and jolted; and it was all she could do to latch onto the railing just in front of her console. Behind her she heard Jeff grunt and suddenly he was by her side, grabbing onto the rail alongside her. Another jolt and he winced.

"Jeff, go hang onto something you can wrap your arms around you-" she started but the room flung itself sideways and she lost her footing, banging her knee against the floor before she could right herself.

"Just wanna be close to you Annie," Jeff said, managing a smile through his obvious pain. "In case something-"

The time desk rumbled and groaned and then tossed them back and forth. The lights above flickered wildly and steam shot out a nearby canister and the dean screamed at the top of his lungs. The shaking grew constant now and Annie struggled to stay on her feet. All around them the walls groaned and shuddered.

"Abed!" Jeff yelled over the growing racket of the time desk shaking itself apart. "Abed tell me it's working!"

Another hard jolt came. Annie found herself knocked to the ground and straining to catch her breath. Jeff's hand fumbled for hers and he grimaced as he dragged her hand back to the railing. She latched on just as another jolt came and the time desk roared around them like thunder.

Then a large crack spiked from the ceiling, down the wall. A sudden rush of wind blew past them as if the time desk were an airplane with a window open, rapidly losing pressure. Annie's hair whipped around her as her eyes fixed on the bluish white light coming out of the crack.

"Abed!" the dean called.

"It's… it's not working!" Abed said. "I can't… I don't…"

The time desk rocked back and forth, nearly jarring them from their secure positions.

"Ay-bed you have to do something!" Pierce cried.

"We're shaking apart!" Abed shouted as another crack formed and the pull toward the outside grew. "The decent into our timeline is too steep! I…"

"Take us back to '85!" the dean yelled. "Reverse course!"

"It's-" Abed started but they couldn't hear him as another crash shook them. "I don't know what to do!"

Then Annie felt Jeff's hand on hers, even as another crack smashed all the way down to the floor with what seemed the force of an earthquake. Debris flew at them for half a second before being sucked out into the time vortex outside. Annie gripped Jeff's hand as tightly as she could, trying not to touch his fingers at all.

Another crash and they were spinning. Troy lost his grip and flew toward the cracks. The dean caught him by the ankle before he could get clear, but the momentum and sudden stop slammed him against the floor and the dean lost his grip. Troy screamed as the wind whipped him through the air before chucking him against the spiral staircase like a ragdoll. The dean screamed and Annie tried to cover her mouth, before she realized she had to keep hanging on.

"Troy!" Annie shouted, but the young man dangled on the staircase lifelessly.

The time desk rocked again, but they managed to stay on their feet and Troy, tangled as he was in the staircase, stayed put as well. His limbs hung over the rails and steps, contorted like a bird that had struck a window.

"I think… I think he's dead! Oh god! He's dead!" the dean called.

"No!" Abed looked ready to let go of the controls and try to get to his best friend. "Troy!"

"Abed!" Jeff shouted, but Abed didn't hear him. Even standing right next to him Annie almost didn't hear him. Her eyes remained fixed on Troy's limp body. "Abed listen to me!"

"Someone take the controls!" Abed cried tears actually streamed down his face.

"Abed! Dammit look at me!"

The young man finally pulled his attention from his fallen friend and looked to Jeff.

"Plan b right?"

Abed didn't answer, he merely blinked at Jeff as if he wasn't sure what he heard. Then he took a deep breath and nodded, his face returning to normal. Or as close as he could get it.

"Plan b!" Jeff shouted. "Is there any other way!? Abed tell me there's another way!"

"Jeff… I don't… I don't know! Troy just…"

"Jeff…" Annie gripped his hand tighter, forgetting about his fingers entirely. "Jeff what do you think you're-"

"I'm the paradox Annie," Jeff said and the desk shook and cracked more. The wind current grew stronger than ever. "I beat up my father in front of myself! I'm the contradiction in the timeline."

"No you're not!" Annie's eyes widened as she fully realized what he planned on doing. She forced out everything, the time desk, the noise, the fact that Troy was dead. Everything so she could focus on him. "You said you remembered me! You said you remembered it! It's not a paradox if you remember it!"

"Annie," he shook his head. "I lied. I really, really wish you were there when I was a scared 8 year old, but you weren't."

"Jeff! Just stop! Stop and think! You don't even… you're Jeff Winger! You don't do things like this! You don't sacrifice yourself! Be selfish! You're selfish!"

"You're just as selfish as I am…" Jeff fired his lopsided grin, as if congratulating himself on being clever, even given what was about to happen. "…you're just not as good at it yet."

He let go of the railing with one hand.

"Jeff! Jeff stop!"

"I'm doing what I've always done Annie," he said. "I'm protecting you… figures it would be the last thing I'd do… always were my favorite…"

Annie latched onto his shirt collar and he took the opportunity to press his lips against hers before letting go with his other hand. Annie held him tight, but the fabric dragged against her fingertips coming loose.

In spite of this his eyes caught hers and he smiled. He actually smiled that damn Jeff Winger smile with the crinkles at his eyes!

"Jeff… don't…" tears pricked at her eyes.

"Milady," he said, before ripping his arm free of hers.

For half a second it seemed like he wasn't moving. He was just staring at her suspended in space. Then the air currents took him. Annie knew she was screaming but she couldn't hear anything. She tried to grab at him but she felt Abed's strong arm around her waist. She tried to fight, to claw at Abed's arm, but then Jeff hit the wall right next to a crack with an audible thud. The wall shuddered just slightly before giving way entirely and pulling him into the light.

The time desk spun all the harder and the light poured in through the cracks. The time vortex roared like a famished beast and Annie's head pounded. The light shot at her eyes and she clamped her eyes shut before everything went topsy turvey and she blacked out, even as she held her hands out to where Jeff had been.

* * *

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. After a few breathes he realized there was no more pain. Not only no more pain, but no more shaking, no more time whirlwind and no more alarms. The time desk… it had restored itself somehow! And more importantly, he was alive! Alive and lying on the stairs for some reason.

Troy sat up, his head pounded but he took that for a good sign! The last thing he remembered was smacking his head on the floor when the dean grabbed him. Then maybe flying again? He couldn't be sure, it was all blurry.

With shaky hands and feet he climbed down the stairs. And that's when he realized that the time desk wasn't as silent as he thought when he first woke up. Sure there were the typical thrumming of the engines and the random timey noises. But something else as well.

He came into view of the control room. Perfectly in tact, but there, on the floor by the central console were his friends. Pierce and the Dean stood next to the railing, right next to Annie and Abed, who were kneeling on the floor in each other's arms. That sound he had heard was Annie sobbing.

That's when he realized that someone was missing. There was supposed to be someone else in the room! Who was it? Who was it? Why couldn't he remember? Someone tall and… His eyes widened when it suddenly hit him.

"Where's Jeff?" he called out.

Pierce, the Dean, and Abed all turned to him with shocked expressions on their faces. Annie remained buried on Abed's shoulder. Before Troy knew what was happening, Pierce and the Dean rushed to him and were hugging him. Troy fumbled to get away, these were two of the last people he wanted hugs from.

"Guy's what happened?" Troy said. "Where's Jeff?"

The dean sniffled and looked away as did Pierce. Troy pushed past them and moved over to Annie and Abed. His best friend reached out with his free hand and gripped Troy's arm as tightly as he could, tight enough that it almost hurt.

"He…" Annie's voice came between her sobs. "He's dead."

"No…" Abed shook his head, looking like he may cry to. "He's not dead. He never existed."

"W...what?" Troy said. "What do you mean he never existed? I can remember him! We can all remember him!"

"Because we're in the time desk, and the temporal regulator is working again. But he never existed!"

Now Annie pulled away, and Troy pulled his lips tightly at seeing her eyes, wet and puffy with tears. "Don't you say that Abed! Troy's right! I remember him too! If he didn't exist then how did the study group form? That was his idea! He organized it to get with Britta!"

"Wait… wasn't that Rich?" Pierce said.

"Yeah," Troy nodded. "Rich formed the study group… wait… no it was Jeff… I remember it both ways."

"The temporal regulator folded us into the new time stream. The study group had to exist, but since there was no Jeff, events changed just enough that they still happened to us, just without him."

"But… Jeff and I won the debate competition! We chased Professor Professorson… Garrity through the blanket fort! Dean, you remember! The fake conspiracy theory class!"

"Of course I do Annie," the dean said. "You and Jeff tricked me because I made a secret conspiracy with Britta… no wait… Jeff…"

The dean furrowed his brows like he was straining to sort out which memories were which. Troy thought back to the first blanket fort and sure enough he remembered Annie and Britta chasing Professor Garrity through fluffy town. His head buzzed and he frowned.

"But which memories are real Abed?" he said. "The ones with Jeff or without him?"

"They're both real," Abed said. "They're real to us. But to everyone outside of this time desk, they never happened. At least as far as Jeff is concerned."

"No." Annie stood up. "No! I don't accept that! The Time Desk is fixed. We can go back to 1985 and stop him from beating up his dad. Or stop Pierce from running off!"

"We can't," Abed shook his head. "That would cause even more wrinkles in our timelines. Jeff sacrificed himself and it eased enough pressure off the temporal regulator to allow it to fix us. It can't take anymore and I don't know how to repair it. I'm not Inspector Spacetime, I only know how to really operate this thing and do some emergency work like we did earlier."

"So that's it?" Annie paced, her face flushing with anger and grief. "We just leave the time desk and live our lives like he was never a part of them!? Like he didn't matter?"

"Of course he mattered," Abed said. "Jeff was the first person to see my value. It matters a lot to me. The time he sat with me on a tabletop like Sixteen Candles and ate chicken fingers, only Jeff could appreciate that. And that's while I'll remember him even though nobody else does. That's the only way to honor him."

"Yeah," Troy nodded. "I think… I think you're right."

Annie pressed her lips tightly together and gripped a nearby railing. Her breaths came in short spurts as she tried to fight back another wave of tears. Troy found himself blinking them back as well. What had happened to Jeff was just sinking in but he couldn't stand seeing Annie like this.

"Come on Annie," he held a hand out to her. "Let's get out of here."

"I…" She looked around helplessly, as if trying to find anything that might bring Jeff back. "Troy…"

"It's going to be okay Annie," he pulled her into his arms. "As long as we remember Jeff… even a little, he's still going to be there right? That's what they say isn't it?"

Annie sniffed and hugged him tighter. Troy took one last look at the time desk before heading to the spiral staircase. Hopefully for the last time. That was another thing about Jeff he would always remember and now agree with. Time travel sucked.

They made their way up the spiral staircase and out the hatch; Pierce and the Dean first, followed by Troy and Annie and finally Abed, who locked it firmly behind them. Once they were all out and standing in the storage room they had nothing left but to look at each other.

"Annie," the dean said, his voice cracking slightly. "I'm really sorry."

"I…" Annie muttered. "It's okay Dean…"

"We've arrived a few hours after we left," Abed said. "That means Britta and Shirley will probably be wondering where we are."

"Oh God," Troy said. "I'm just not sure what to do."

"We have to act like nothing happened," Abed said. "They'll think we're crazy. Can we do that?"

"I think so," Pierce said solemnly. "Annie… if you need a ride home, if you don't want to… you know…"

Annie wiped her eyes and sniffed. "I… I can handle it."

"You sure?" Troy gave her a squeeze. "We can make an excuse for you…"

"I'm sure!" she snapped. "Let's go!"

As soon as they left the storage room, the dean split, headed to his office, leaving the four study group members together. None of them spoke a word but they hung close to one another. Much sooner than any of them wanted they caught sight of the study room. Britta and Shirley sat in their usual places chatting enthusiastically to each other.

Troy glanced at Annie and frowned when he realized that he couldn't read her. Her face remained straight and emotionless, even more than Abed's! Why did that worry him? He couldn't quite tell. Had she ever taken an acting class?

Just a few yards from the room the dean reappeared and offered Annie some make up to cover up the blemishes from crying. She quietly thanked him and motioned for the others to go ahead without her. Reluctantly they did as she said and soon they were walking into the study room.

"There you guys are!" Britta stood and grinned widely at Troy. He felt a lump forming in his throat but he swallowed it back down. But that didn't stop him from stepping around Abed and running to Britta, taking her in his arms and hugging her fiercely.

"Um… does anyone have a hug for me?" he vaguely heard Shirley say.

"Abed hug Shirley," Troy said as he breathed in the fresh scent of Britta's shampoo.

"Troy?" Britta finally said. "Everything alright?"

Troy pulled away, matching her eyes with his. "I think it will be."

"O…kay…" Britta raised a brow.

Troy nodded and took his seat besides Pierce.

"Where's An-nie?" Shirley said.

"She was just with us," Troy said.

"She's powdering her lady parts," Pierce said.

"Pierce!" they all shouted in unison.

A moment later Annie whisked in the room, with a fresh coat of make up and a smile that Troy knew was fake. Still she did her best to sell it, patting Shirley on the shoulder and saying hi to everyone before taking her spot and pulling out her books.

"Should we get started?" she said, flipping through a notebook.

"Well we can't yet," Britta said. "Aren't we missing someone?"

Annie froze mid page turn and stared at Britta. Troy's pulse quickened as he swore he saw a quick flutter of Annie's eyelashes. His own eyes went to the empty chair right next to Britta, the exact spot that Annie looked.

"Oh he just texted me," Shirley said. "He should be here any-"

The door opened and Rich marched in with that broad, perfect smile of his. "Sorry I'm late everyone! I was busy teaching a girl scout troop how to make the perfect vase. You guys remember when we took pottery together right?"

Rich strolled up to the table and plopped himself down, right in Jeff's chair. Abed flinched and Troy felt his fingertips press against the table top. He knew it wouldn't make sense to anybody but seeing Rich… right where Jeff was supposed to be. It just wasn't…

"Oh my god Annie!" Britta interrupted his thoughts. "You're crying! What's wrong?"

Like a dam breaking Annie burst into sobs and just as quickly Shirley collected her in her arms. Pulling her into a deep embrace and rubbing her back. Tears dripped down Troy's face as Abed stood to help get Annie out of there.

"It will be okay pumpkin," Shirley said. "It will be okay."

"I know," Annie managed through her tears. "I just kinda wish it would be right now."

To be concluded...


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Three days since 1985. Three days since he threw himself out of existence. Three days and she finally left the apartment. She really didn't want to, but she just couldn't bear another day in there by herself. Reality had warped around her and the differences drove her up the wall.

She still had her picture of their freshmen year food fight, but instead of her and Jeff covered in food. It was her and Rich. The same went for her debate award; given in honor of Greendale's debate team: Annie Edison and Rich Stephenson. In fact Rich apparently was Time's Go to Guy to stand in for Jeff. Not only did memories of him clutter her mind, he also took the place of most of Annie's pictures of Jeff.

And it wasn't just pictures and awards. It was everything. None of her text messages from him existed, no handwritten notes, not even his 'Abe Mentions' notched into the study room table. On the second day, she even went so far as to sneak into the administration offices and access the student files. There was no reference to Jeff Winger on any of them. Not his student file, not the sealed file of their expulsion, nothing. The universe had left a big Jeff Sized hole in everything he had ever touched.

Of course it had filled that hole in with something far worse than the lack of data and photographs. By far the memories were the worst.

She still remembered kissing Jeff to beat Simons. But she also remembered Rich kissing Simmons to win. She remembered fighting with Jeff when she couldn't find her pen, but she also remembered Rich's 'golly gee' speech that settled everyone down before it escalated into a complete bottle episode. She remembered standing outside the Tranny Dance in front of Rich… and so on.

After three days of it, she had to get out of the house so she didn't have to be alone with her thoughts and her dual memories. Besides that, she couldn't afford to miss more class. She just dreaded their first study meeting without Jeff. It was hard enough seeing their other study group members that hadn't gone with them to 1985.

Britta and Shirley were the same as ever. Britta spoke to Troy about the next time they would go out together and Shirley went on about Ben and how cute she was. At least until she noticed how poorly Annie hid her emotions. Then it was a string of questions that broke down to Annie sobbing in her arms but not being able to tell her what was wrong.

But that was then. Now Annie would be stronger. She'd shed her tears and it still hurt, she could still feel Jeff's lips on hers just before he let go. And the way he looked at her, it tore her up, but the more time went on the more she realized that Abed's suggestion was the only one that made sense. She would remember Jeff and try to show him how much what he did meant to her by keeping the study group alive. Even though part of her wondered how thrilled he would be now that it included Rich.

Abed joined her as she left the apartment, locking up behind them and walking alongside her as they made their way out the doors and onto the sidewalk. Usually they drove to Greendale but Annie felt she could use the walk. She needed to stretch her legs and needed to breath the fresh air before she got to the stuffier funny smelling air of Greendale.

For a while, they walked in companionable silence. Troy and Abed had been great to her ever since it happened but they didn't force it. They'd let Annie come to them when she was angry at Pierce, or at her parents, or at any number of things that she could blame what had happened on. At least now they were approaching some semblance of normalcy.

Finally, after a few minutes, Abed broke their silence in a way she hadn't expected.

"I'm going down to the time desk," he said out of no where.

"What?"

"When we get to school," he said, stepping around another sidewalk commuter. "I'm going down into the time desk and shutting it down. After all the… after what it did to all of us, I don't think we should use it again so I'm shutting it down."

Annie nodded. In the first couple of days she's riddled Abed with any number of scenarios of how they might go back and rescue Jeff but he was clear. Not only could the time desk not handle it, Jeff no longer existed _to_ rescue. He suspected that even if they got back to 1985 they might not even find him.

"Let me know how it goes," Annie said quietly.

"Rich wants us all to go out with him to yoga tonight," Abed said. "You should come."

Again, Annie nodded. "I think I might go. Yoga sounds nice."

"And hopefully Shirley thinks it's another thing inspired by Satan and has an intervention," Abed smiled. "I miss those."

Her mouth felt strange, smiling, but she was glad that Abed was able to bring one out of her. She needed them. She hadn't been this low since she'd over dosed. She took a deep breath and watched as the vapor curled up in the cool air. She looped her arm through Abed's and took an extra step to keep up with him. Soon they were chatting about their history class and Dean Pelton's outfits, even debating which one was best. They got so into it that Annie wasn't watching when they rounded a corner and she ran straight into another passerbyer.

The two of them nearly fell over, but the man she rammed herself into managed to catch her before she hit the ground. At the cost of his own cell phone, which clattered to the ground and popped open. Annie dove to pick it up for him, feeling her cheeks burning red at embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry! "Annie mumbled. "I wasn't even looking. If it's broken I promise I'll buy you a new one."

"Don't worry about it," A chill ran up her spine when she heard the voice.

It couldn't be!

Annie stepped backward, her gaze first hit Abed, who looked utterly perplexed and amazed. Then she looked at the guy she ran into. Not daring to believe it. But the tall, broad shoulders, spiked up hair and that patented smile didn't lie, even if he did. It was him.

It was Jeff.

He stood there, dressed in a fine suit and a stylish overcoat as if nothing had ever happened. As if he hadn't just erased himself from existence only a few short days ago. He smiled genuinely at them and reached his hand out for the pieces of his phone.

"Well we'll never know if you owe me a new phone if I can't have all the parts," he said as he took them from her loose fingers.

"You…" Annie muttered, arguing with herself in her mind. It couldn't be him. Abed said it was impossible.

Jeff fit the battery back in place then the back cover. His eyes kept trailing from his phone to them uncomfortably. He gulped just a bit before his phone lit up and he could smile again.

"There we go," he said. "No harm done. Looks like you're off the hook."

Neither of them replied.

"Well… I'm going to be late for work," he said. "Have a good day you two. Try not to run into anybody else."

With that Jeff nodded and went on his merry way, slipping his phone into his pocket and whistling slightly to himself as he walked. Annie blinked and then looked to Abed, who was lost deep in thought. Either he was just as clueless as she was or he wasn't ready to say. Either way, Annie wasn't about to let Jeff walk out on them.

"Wait Jeff!" she called out.

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her with a curious expression on his face.

"How do you know my name?"

"What are you talking about?" Annie ran up to him. "Jeff… it's me!"

Jeff's brows wrinkled up and he squinted slightly at her, even tilting his head as if to get a better view.

"I think you may have mistaken me for someone else. We've never met, I'm pretty sure I'd remember you."

"You mean you don't? How can you not remember me?"

"Because I normally take the bus to work and we've never bumped into each other?" Jeff shrugged. "I just have one of those faces I guess. You're not the first good looking brunette to pretend to know me. Good guess on my name though."

"You can't be serious," Annie shook her head. "I don't believe this. You actually don't remember me? What about Abed? Or Troy, the Dean, Starburns, Greendale?"

"Greendale? You mean the community college?"

"Yes! Greendale Community College! The one with the study group! The one you formed to get with Britta?"

"Britta?" Jeff's face flashed with recognition, then he looked around and smiled. "Okay, now I get it. Alright, you tell Britta that this was very funny but she needs to try harder if she wants to prank me."

"What?"

"Britta Perry," Jeff said. "My childhood best friend. She's the one that put you up to this isn't she? Is she hiding somewhere watching or are you going to report to her in class?"

"You're not making any sense!"

"You're the one that knocked into me," Jeff shrugged. "It's not my fault Britta is horrible at pranks."

"Now if you'll excuse me, really do gotta go."

"But…

Abed grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away slightly. "You'll have to excuse her," he said. "She really wanted this joke to go another way."

"No worries," Jeff said. "I've been bumped into by worse people. Tell Britta I said hi."

"You got it!" Abed said with his most affected 'bro' accent.

Jeff nodded and made his way down the sidewalk while Abed practically dragged Annie around the corner so they'd be out of earshot. The entire time she tried to get a glance over at Jeff and get herself out of Abed's grip.

"What's going on?" she finally said. "Why are you just letting him go? That's Jeff! He's alive!"

"That's _a_ Jeff," Abed said solemnly. "I wasn't sure if this would happen or not so I didn't even bring up the possibility."

"What possibility? Abed what are you talking about?"

Abed sighed. "When Jeff, our Jeff beat up his dad in the penguin palace and threw himself into the time vortex, he wiped himself from existence."

"But…"

"The Jeff Winger that we knew, that formed the study group, the one that waited all day for his dad to show up, by himself ceased to exist. But what about the young Jeff that was there to see adult Jeff beat his dad up? That boy kept living… and that's him. An alternate Jeff Winger. He apparently never went to Greendale, never formed the study group and by the looks of it was never disbarred."

"But it's him!" Annie tugged at Abed to follow her. "He's still Jeff!"

"Not in any way that matters to us," Abed said. "He doesn't have any of the shared memories, and he's probably lived a different life. He won't remember you Annie, or any of us. And we don't have the right to demand he be our friends for a life he never lived."

"But Abed…"

"Annie, please don't do anything. It's only going to hurt worse, and I'm struggling as it is to keep up with yours and Troy's emotions. It can't possibly end well. Just come with me to Greendale and the study group. Let this Jeff live his life and we'll live our new ones."

"I…"

"Please Annie."

Slowly, and with a defeated breath Annie nodded. Though she felt like her heart had just been ripped out all over again. All the pain she'd managed to 'feel out' was finding a way a back in, knowing that there was a Jeff out there that had never met her, let alone cared about her.

"Abed," She finally said. "You go on ahead… I think… I need some time to process this."

Abed eyed her then nodded. "Just promise me you won't do anything that will turn this into a two parter. Those episodes are the hardest on viewers."

"I promise," she bit her lip, already feeling her breath shortening just a bit with emotion.

"Okay," Abed said and then surprised her by giving her a hug. After a couple of seconds she gripped him as tightly as she could. Abed rarely initiated hugs but she was thankful that he'd learned enough that, right now, she really needed one.

After a few moments they broke and Abed took a few steps back. "Don't be long okay? Shirley's really worried about you."

"Okay," she nodded absently, considering going back to the apartment so she could bawl her eyes out for another three days.

Abed gave her one last reassuring pat on the arm before heading out toward Greendale. Annie merely stood right where she was, doing her best not to let him see her cry. He wouldn't leave otherwise and she didn't think she could handle it with him there.

Once he was finally gone, Annie turned and retraced their steps toward their apartment. She would allow herself one hour. Then she would stick her chin up and try to forget Jeff… this alternate Jeff… not her Jeff. But with each step her resolve weakened. She tried to force what she saw away but her mind just wouldn't cooperate.

This alternate Jeff was so familiar. The same smile, the same haircut, the same… everything! How could she just ignore that? And if he was around and kicking, was that the final nail in the coffin? Was he proof that time had completely erased her Jeff?

Only a block away from her apartment Annie slumped against the brick wall and choked back fresh tears. It really was all coming back and he really was proof that the man that gave his life to protect her was gone for good.

Annie bit her lip and focused on her goal, get to her apartment, but her eyes clouded with tears and she could barely see a few steps in front of her. Instead of hurrying to her apartment she sank down and began sobbing, barely aware of her phone suddenly chirping with a new text message. Through the tears she fumbled for hit, hoping it would be Troy, or even at this point, Rich. Anything to distract her.

Instead the message header said it was from Jeff Winger Esq.

For half a second she considered not opening it. She couldn't take this anymore. Had Britta given New Jeff her number?

Then her eyes zeroed in on the date and she couldn't help but gasp.

November 20, 1985.

As quick as her thumbs would allow, Annie opened the text message and her eyes scrolled over it. The message… it was a mess, with random letters and icons scattered throughout. At first it was almost intelligible. But after scanning it over and over, Annie figured out what letters were the original and what was just part of the decay that the message had suffered for over twenty years.

She fumbled into her backpack and retrieved a notebook and a pen then began transcribing the actual message, just to make sure she got it right. Her fingers flew across the paper and she knew she must have looked crazy, sitting there on the street, scribbling in a notebook while looking at her phone. But she didn't care. In the end she had her message and she held it in front of her so she could read it.

_Annie,_

_ Seriously, your mom is crazy. And as you just pointed out to me, it's pointless for me to send this message because you'll never get it. But what the hell do I care? I'm texting years before it's time. Beat that hipsters! But don't worry Annie, we'll solve this thing with your parents. And bring some proper frying grease back to the future with us. Catch ya later… what the hell, you'll never get this... _

_ Love,_

_ Jeff._

Annie dropped the pen and paper then looked to her phone. She wasn't sure how long she'd remained like that, or at what point she'd cupped her hands over her mouth in astonishment. But slowly, what this exactly meant dawned on her and she turned her head down the road, where the New Jeff had been walking. And then she knew what she needed to do.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Troy said.

"Yeah," Abed nodded as he threw a switch a control panel blinked off. "You've seen how torn up Annie is over everything that happened. This time desk is just too dangerous. Doc Brown was right."

"But that _was_ Jeff," Troy said.

"_A_ Jeff," Abed said. "An alternate Jeff, apparently he still knows Britta."

"Really?" Troy said.

"They're best friends."

"Ooooooh," Troy nodded. "That's Jeff. She's actually mentioned him a few times, just never by name. That's weird right?"

"Maybe," Abed switched off another control panel. "Maybe time made it that way so we wouldn't be confused."

"But if there's another Jeff," Troy said. "Isn't there anyway we could still find our Jeff?"

Abed shook his head but Annie's voice came even as he opened his mouth to answer.

"Yes Troy!" she said. "We can!"

They turned to look at her and Troy had to hold back a squeak in order to be manly. She looked like she'd been in a fight, with her hair a bit disheveled, and her clothes scuffed. Also there was that look in her eye that reminded him of her Adderall days. Adding further to the crazy Annie ensemble, was the fact that they could both see and smell the chloroform rag she had used, hanging out of her pocket. But most telling of all that Annie had snapped, was the fact that she was lugging an unconscious Alternate Jeff down the stairs.

"Annie," Abed's voice actually rose a bit. "You promised-"

"Jeff's alive," Annie deposited Alternate Jeff at the foot of the stairs then ran to them with a wide smile. "Not him. Our Jeff! He's alive… somewhere!"

"Annie," Abed shook his head.

"He is!" she held up her phone. "When we were in 1985, Jeff sent me a text message. He joked around it being up in the stratosphere for decades until there was a phone to receive it. It's three days late but it finally arrived!"

Abed took the phone and examined the text, running his eyes rapidly over its content while silently mouthing letters. Annie beamed and did her best to straighten her hair out a bit.

"Annie," Troy said. "How do you know that means anything? It's just a text message. People send text messages before they die."

"It's not just a text message!" Annie said. "Look around you Troy. Time has erased every square bit of Jeff Winger from our lives. He's literally been scrubbed away from every picture, every document, every database. He never existed, except for that text. If Jeff was truly gone forever I should never have gotten that text! Which means somewhere in time, our Jeff Winger is alive! Right Abed? Tell me I'm right!"

"Um…" Abed looked up from her phone with a dumbfounded look that rivaled the one he'd had that morning when they met alternate Jeff. "…it's possible. Unlikely, but possible."

"Yes!" Annie pumped her fist. "Loving the possible!"

"But why did you kidnap alternate Jeff?" Troy said.

"Because I didn't get the text until I met him. I don't know how, but he's connected. So we're going to need him if we're going to find our Jeff."

"Annie," Abed said but she slipped past him and flicked on a switch.

"Fire up the Time Desk," Annie grinned at her roommates. "We might have to move time and space but we'll find him. Either you help me or get out of my way. Either way I'm going to find Jeff Winger even if I have to go to the edge of the universe to do it!"

* * *

Join me in one week for a preview of the exciting Third and finale Chapter in the _Time Desk Trilogy_.


	10. Time Desk Triumphant

Thak stretched his legs as he wandered up the hill. It had been a good hunt. One thunderbeast slain, enough food to last the tribe for days. They would have full bellies from the meat and warm skins from its hide. Tonight, they would tell the stories to the tribe and the Old One would decide if they were worthy of being remembered.

He felt it should; not a single hunter trampled by the thunderbeasts massive feet, or skewered by its tusks, or whipped by its massive snout! Such a victory there never was! His hunters worked like no others! And every day word of their strength spread, bringing more to their tribe.

Thak came to the top of his hill. Relishing the stiff breeze that blew his hair back. His home! His tribe! Off in the distance they stood his hole in the mountain. And gathered around it, his people waited. Soon to be reunited. The little ones saw him first and he heard them cheering. First of the hunters to return.

One of the women broke from the rest and rushed to him. Thak recognized her immediately. Only she rushed to greet the hunters this way. The rest followed the Old One's instructions to remain until the full party arrived. But there was always something rebellious about this one.

"Thak!" She called out as she neared.

"La!" He waved. "Such a hunt! Wait until you hear the stories!"

"Later," she said. "We have news!"

"News?"

"Yes! Much has happened! We feared harm fell upon you and the hunters in the storm."

"It was light and noise," Thak said. "We stood strong!"

"There were newcomers," La said. "They came after the storm. From the lands south. The lands of Green."

Thak narrowed his eyes. "The Lands of Green? You did not let them stay did you? They are weak and stupid."

"The Old One sent them away, except one. You must meet him. We have never seen his kind."

"Oh? Is he a hunter?"

"I do not know, but you must see him."

"What is he called?"

"He is dumb like all from the land of Green. We do not understand his words they are too fast. Come met him!"

Thak shook his head and allowed La to take him by the hand. The other women and the children greeted him as he came and they beckoned him to the caves to meet the new one.. Thak had to wonder who this new one was, to have all of them so excited.

At the mouth of the cave, the Old One stood, clutching his stick and sucking on a root. For as long as he could remember, this was how Thak saw the Old One. He was old when Thak was a boy, still listening to his stories of the Before Time.

"Old One," he said as they approached.

"Young Thak."

"La tells me you brought in a new one."

"Very strange this newcomer, not like others. He smells of flowers and his forehead is small. His word are fast and ugly to the ears."

"And yet you brought him to the tribe?"

"Very strange this newcomer. Follow and meet him."

The Old One did not wait to see if Thak agreed, he merely spat out his root then turned to the cave. La sprang forward and clutched the Old One by the arm, helping him forward into the cave. Slowly, Thak came behind them.

They passed into the cave, picking up a firebranch as they entered. Up ahead, sat the picture makers, scrawling their tribes stories on the walls. Thak grinned at the pictures, soon they would picture him killing a Thunderbeast.

"Be warned," the Old One said. "He is very ugly, his forehead is small."

Thak had to crook his head to the side on that one. What manner of creature was this that the others found him ugly and hard to look at, yet they brought him into the past-cave for protecting.

Finally, they reached the back of the cave where the last fire was and the most important pictures were. Thak spotted the creature, huddled by the flames. At first glance he didn't look different or strange to Thak at all, but then he looked up from a flat glowing rock he held and Thak nearly recoiled.

He wasn't man like Thak was. His forehead completely misshapen and tiny, his hair poking out strangely, and his skins, thin and coating nearly his entire body.

The creature spotted them and stood. Thak felt his fingers tighten around his club. The creature towered over them, even Thak himself! Perhaps this was why they kept him, if he could be trained he would be excellent on the hunt.

"You must be the guy in charge," he said. "I'm Jeff Winger, and I need to know if there's anywhere nearby that has descent reception."

* * *

Jeff, Annie and the rest of the Greendale 7 will return for the conclusion of the Time Desk Trilogy in...

Time Desk Triumphant.

coming soon...


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